Sketches of Rhode Island physicians deceased prior to 1850

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SKETCHES

O F

RHODE ISLAND PHYSICIANS,

DECEASED PRIOR TO 1850

PREPARED BT

USHER PARSONS,

gt^x Wxt §ho(U f ^litttfl pdial ^oartj).

PROVIDENCE :

KNOWLES. ANTUONY & CO., PKINTERS.

1859.

TRANSACTIONS

OF THH

RHODE-ISLAND MEDICAL SOCIETY.

VOL.

I.

...nnAR'

I. 9

PROVIDENCE:

KNOWLES, ANTHONY & CO., PRINTERS.

1859.

HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL PEOEESSION

RHODE ISLAND

At a stated meeting of the Rhode Island Medical Society,
1859, it was voted that a committee be raised to select and
publish such papers now in the archives of the Society, as they
may deem worthy of preservation ; and also to prepare a
sketch of the lives of eminent deceased physicians, from the
first settlement of the colony, with an account of the medical
institutions, and of other matters pertaining to the history of
medicine in Rhode Island.

The committee, consisting of Usher Parsons, Isaac Ray and
George L. Collins, after due consideration, have arrived at the
conclusion, that the sketches and historical matters should, in
the order of arrangement for publication, precede, and serve
as an introduction to the first volume of papers, selected from
the archives of the Society.

SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF EARLY PHYSICIANS.

The sketches are confined to physicians who deceased or
retired from practice prior to 1850^ — the only exception be-
ing that of Dr. Levi Wheaton, who died in 1852, but whose

long professional career virtually terminated two years pre-
viously to his death. It is proper to observe that three or
four distinguished physicians of Providence, who died between
1830 and 50, have been noticed with brevity; which is not
from any want of respect for their memories, but because they
were personally known to a majority of the Society, who are
as capable of appreciating their high character and worth as
your committee ; and, because such biographical notices should
come from the pen not of cotemporaries and competitors in
the profession, who must incur the imputation of partiality or
prejudice, but from subsequent writers, whose minds are un-
biased by either, and who, by delay, would be able to add to
the already accumulated facts and incidents proper to intro-
duce. We shall commence with the founder of Newport.

John Clakke, the first physician, arrived in Boston in
1G31, and resided there till 1638. He then removed to
Portsmouth, the north part of Rhode Island, and in the fol-
lowing year to Newport. In 1G51 he went to England, where
he united with Roger Williams in procuring the revocation of
Coddingtou's commission as governor of the islands in Narra-
gansett bay. Williams returned with the revocation, but
Clarke remained twelve years in London in the practice of
his profession. In this time he procured the late Charter of
Rhode Island, which continued in force until 1842, when it
was superseded by the present State Constitution. He after-
wards returned to Newport, where he officiated as pastor of
the first Baptist church, meanwhile practicing physic, until his
death, which occurred April 20th, 1G76, in the G8th year of
his age. A full and very interesting memoir of him, by Dr.
David King, is contained in the archives of the Rhode Island
Historical Society.

Robert Jeffries was authorized " to exercise the functions
of surgery," by the government of the Island, in 1G41 and
soon after Dr. John Cranston was also licensed, with the
privilege of dealing in drugs and medicines ; and after him in

1687, came. Dr. Samuel Atrault, a Huguenot from New Ko-
chelle, and practiced a few years.

Dr. Thomas Eodman arrived in Newport 1680, and per-
formed professional duty until his death, in 1727, being then 80
years bid. He had two wives; the first died 1690, aged 35,
and his second 1732, aged 66 years. The town encouraged
him in practice by a grant of land. His son, Dr. Claeke
Rodman, was many years in active professional life, and Wil-
liam EoDMAX, son of Clarke and grandson of Thomas, died
the year after his father, in early life. There were also three
Vignerons, in succession, viz. : —

NoRBENT Felicien Vigneron, a native of Provence d' Ar-
tois, in France, arrived in 1690, and died 1764, at the age of
nearly 95 years. He was well educated, and a popular prac-
titioner. Many of his lineal descendants survive, but the
name, it is believed, has become extinct. The late Commp-
dore William Yigneron Taylor and his grandchild of the same
name, are descended from him. Charles Antonio Vigneron,
son of Norbent, was born in Newport, and resided in Spring
street. He studied with his father, and attained to eminence.
He married a Miss Irish, and had five sons and three daugh-
ters. He died in New York, of small pox by inoculation, in
1772, at the age of fifty. He had a son named Stephen Yig-
neron, Surgeon of a privateer, who was lost at sea.

Doctors James Noyes, Benjamin Staunton and Jonathan
Robinson, the first died 1718, aged 40; the 'second in 1760,
at an advanced age, and the third still later.

John Brett, from Germany, a pupil of Boerhaave, and a
particular friend and associate of Redwood, who cooperated
with him in establishing the Redwood Library', to which he
left a portion of his books, and some arc now to be found in
private medical libraries in Newport.

From 1720 to 1760, the town of Newport was the most
populous of any except Boston, in New England, and its in-

habitants were better educated. Its salubrious climate at-
tracted persons of distinction from foreign shores, among
whom was Dean Berkeley, bishop of Cloyne, and many opulent
Jewish merchants, and also several eminent physicians. In
1750 came Doctors William Hunter, Thomas Moffatt, from
Scotland, and soon after Doctors John Halliburton and David
Oliphant, all highly educated, and subsequently eminent prac-
titioners.

Dr. William Hunter, above mentioned, arrived in 1752,
from Edinburg, where he had been a pupil of the elder Monro.
He practiced in Newport twenty-four years, and was the first
male accoucheur in the colony. Dr. Hunter gave lectures on
anatomy in 1754, 5 and G, which were the first given on medi-
cal science in America. Advertisements of them may be seen
in the Boston papers of that day. He was appointed surgeon
of the troops sent to Canada, in the French war. As an
operative surgeon, his skill was superior to tliat of his cotem-
poraries, he having served in the British army. He owned
the largest medical library in the province, a portion of wliich
was given by his son, the late Hon. William Hunter, to Brown
University.

Dr. Thomas Moffatt was highly educated, but less success-
ful in gaining patronage than some others. This induced him
to set up a Scotch snufi" manufactory, in Narragansett, in com-
pany with the father of Gilbert Stuart, the distinguished por-
trait painter, ^j-here the latter passed his early years. Dr.
Moffatt came from Scotland about 1750, and practiced some
until 1772, Avhen his strong tory principles drove him from the
country. His house was mobbed and much of his property
destroyed, on account of his agency in favor of the stamp act.

Dr. John Halliburton arrived in Newport about 1750 as
surgeon of a British frigate, commanded by Lord Colville.
He became attached to Miss Brenton, a lady of hio-h family
connexions, and resigning his commission, he married her.
By an extensive practice added to his wife's fortune he be-

came -wealthy. He was inclined to espouse the British cause
in the early part of the revolution, and was closely watched.
After the enemy left Newport for Long Island and New York,
a person appeared to him, who had been the bearer of letters
between him and the enemy containing secret intelligence, and
demanded hush money. Finding himself in his power, the
doctor paid what he demanded ; but the fellow soon made his
appearance again, demanding a larger sum. He was told to
call the following day ; but in the night the doctor cleared
out for Long Island in a sail-boat, and thence proceeded to
New York, where the British commander offered him his
choice of a hospital surgeoncy there or in Halifax, the latter
of which he accepted, and his family joined him the next year,
including a child named Brenton. He was appointed to the
council board of the province, and died in 1807. His son
Brenton was educated to the law in England, and was, for a
few years, captain of a company ; .but he resigned and re-
turned to the practice of law in Nova Scotia. He was ap-
pointed a judge ; then one of His Majesty's council, and Chief
Justice of the province, and recently received the honor of
Knighthood, at the age of eighty-three. He was not the au-
thor of Sam Slick and other books, as is generally supposed,
his only writings for the press being fugitive pieces in jour-
nals, and recently, when eighty years old, a pleasing poem.

Dr. David Oliphant was many years in extensive practice,
and died in 1802, aged 82 years. His wife, Ann Vernon,
died in July, 1826, aged 75 years. His descendants in New
York are eminent merchants.

Dr. RoBEET Hooper, of whom little is known, died at an
advanced age in 1765.

Dr. Isaac Senter, an eminent physician in Newport, was a
native of London lerry. New Hampshire, born 1753. After
receiving a preliminary education, he sought medical instruc-
tion, in Newport, under Dr. Moffatt. While pursuing his
studies, the news of the battle of Lexington arrived, in April,

8

1775, wliicli roused him in common sympathy with the citizens
of the State, lie joined the Rhode Island troops as surgeon,
and marched to Cambridge, and was commissioned as such in
the organization of the army. He accompanied General Ar-
nold to Quebec, through Kennebec river, and the dense wil-
derness, which occupied thirty-two days in the inclement
months of November and December, before they reached the
settlements on the Chaudiere, during which they suffered in-
credible hardships and privations. In the assault on Quebec,
all Arnold's division were either killed or captured, among
whom was young Senter, who, after being detained some time
to attend the sick and wounded, was released and permitted
to return home. In 1779 he quitted the army, and settled as
a physician at Pawtuxet in Rhode Island. He was soon after
elected one of the representatives to the General Assembly.
In 1780 he was appointed Surgeon and Physician General of
the State, and in the same year removed to Newport, where
he resumed the duties of his profession under very favorable
auspices, nearly all the old physicians of eminence having died
or removed during the war. He had many pupils, one only
of whom. Dr. William G. Shaw, of Wickford, still survives.
He contributed some able papers to European journals, was
elected Fellow of the London, and of the Massachusetts Med-
ical Societies, and of the Historical Society. In the heio-ht of his
fame and usefulness he was seized with a disease which proved
fatal, on the 10th of DecemBer, 1799, at the age of 46 years."
Dr Senter was tall, erect and noble-looking in person and his
dignified step and bearing often arrested the attention of
strangers he passed in the street. He was undoubtedly a
man of high endowments, and well educated for his day.

Dr. Sylvester Gardner was born in South Kingstown
1717, and educated under the superintendence of his brother-
in-law. Rev. Dr. McSparren, and pursued his studies in medi-
cine in France and England. He settled in Boston, and by
his profession and speculation in eastern lands, he amassed
great wealth. He left the country as a loyalist, and had his

9

property confiscated. On the restoration of peace, he re-
turned to Newport and practiced medicine three or four years,
until his death, which occurred in 1786, in his 80th year. He
was grandfather of the late Rev. Dr. Gardner, of Boston.

Dr. Jonathan Easton commenced his professional career
ten years before the revolution, and continued it nearly fifty
years. He was an original Fellow of the Rhode Island Medi-
cal Society. He inoculated three persons for small pox, in
1772, being the first cases in Rhode Island. His figure was
tall and spare, and he dressed in the garb of a Quaker.

Dr. Jonathan Easton, Jr., son of the last, moved from
Newport *to Cumberland. He was an original Fellow of the
Medical Society.

Dr. "William Fletcher was engaged in the profession about
three years in Newport, where he arrived from Lancaster,
England, 1785.

There were also the following practitioners, before and
after the revolution, of whom little can be gathered : — Drs.
Ayers, Bartlett and Williams, of Newport, and Drs. Jar-
rett and Farnsworth, of Middletown.

Dr. Benjamin Mason enjoyed the benefit of European in-
struction, and flourished many years before the close of the
' last century. He was an honorary Fellow of the Massachu-
setts Medical Society, and was at the head of the profession
in Newport.

To the foregoing, it may be proper to add the two distin-
guished men who practiced in Newport for a time and re-
moved to Boston, viz. : — Drs. Samuel Danforth and Benja-
min Waterhouse. They arrived to the ages of ninety and
ninety-two years. The former pursued what may be termed
the "heroic practice," prescribing large doses and other ener-
getic treatment. He attained to great eminence, and was
regarded as the Hercules of the profession. His hight was
2

10

over six feet, his features very prominent, and his lofty bear-
ing commanding and dignified.

Dr. Waterhouse was a native of Newport, where he resided
and studied with Dr. Halliburton. In 1775, he was sent to
London, as a pupil to the celebrated Dr. Fothergill, a mater-
nal relation. After pursuing his studies there and in Edin-
burg, he went to Leyden, where he graduated as Doctor of
Medicine. On his return to his native land, he was elected
to a professorship in Harvard, and subsequently to that of
Botany in Brown University. He was ardently attached to
the profession of medicine, as well as its kindred sciences,
particularly Botany, in which he acquired a high reputation.
In 1811, he published a work entitled the "Botanist,^ dedicat-
ed to the elder President Adams, written in an attractive
st3-le, and displaying high attainments. He wrote extensively
for the press, and, in 1831, a work on the question of the
authorship of " Junius ;" but it failed to attract much interest.
The doctor introduced vaccination into America, employing
it first on his own children. He held the office of Surgeon of
the Marine Hospital at CharlestoAvn, and, during tlie war of
1812, was Hospital Surgeon in the army. He wrote exten-
sively on politics, and was a great admirer of Jefferson and
Adams.

At the beginning of the present century several cotempo-
raries of the medical profession occupied the field in Newport,
viz. :— William Turner, David King, Edmund T. Waring,
Benjamin W. Case and Enoch Hazzard, all of whom were ori-
ginal members in 1812. Some of these will be particularly
noticed hereafter.

In the north part of the State, no names of physicians are
mentioned in history, or in the records of Providence prior
to 1700. It appears by a letter of Roger Williams to his
friend Winthrop, at New London, dated twelve years after
the settlement of Providence, (1648, wherein he thanks him
for sending some advice and medicines,) that in the sickne
ofhimselfand family, ho depended on his own skill and

ss
on

11

some medical books in his possession. The number of in-
habitants at this time (1G48) capable of bearing arms in the
county of Providence was only about one hundred, and a pop-
ulation so small and isolated, could hardly increase to such
an extent for many years, as to make it expedient to invite a
physician, had there been one ready to settle among them ;
especially as there were eminent ones in Newport who could
be brought by water in a few hours, and who needed all the
patronage that both places ajfforded, for their support. In
1676 most of the inhabitants were driven from Providence
and Seekonk, by Indians. In four or five years after, most of
them had returned, and they employed, from that time, Dr.
Richard Bowe^^, of Seekonk, only two miles from Providence,
who appears to have been the first settled physician there,
and to have attended the sick of both places until about 1700.
About this time appears a practitioner of Providence, named
HoYLE. He owned a large estate, probably including the
site of Hoyle Tavern. He soon after gave an acre of land
for the support of a Congregational church, near the present
site of Richmond street church.

Soon after 1700, Dr. Jabez Bowen, the son of Dr. Thomas,
and grandson of Dr. Richard, of Seekonk, settled in Provi-
dence. As the name acquired great professional eminence,
we will give a brief sketch of the Bowen family.

As early as 1680, Dr. Richard Bowen, son of Dr. Thomas,
and grandson of Richard, was engaged in medical practice in
Seekonk, Mass., within two miles of Providence, whose sick
he attended during more than twenty years, before it had any
settled physician within its own limits. Dr. Richard educated
two sons to the profession, Thomas and Jabez. Jabez settled
in Providence, on the home lot of Roger Williams, a few rods
south of St. John's church, corner of North Main and Bowen
streets. He had a son Benjamin, who succeeded him, and a
grandson, Dr. Joseph, who died many years ago at an ad-
vanced age, in Glocester, R. I. Thomas Bowen, son of Dr.
Richard and brother of Jabez, settled with his father in See-

12

konk. He had three sons, one of whom, named Ephraim,
lived in Providence, with his uncle. Dr. Jabcz, from the age of
nine years, and finally studied medicine with him. He settled
on the site of the Franklin House, where he died in 1812,
aged 96 years. He had six sons, two of whom became phy-
sicians,— William, who lived opposite his father's and prac-
ticed till 1832, when he deceased at the age of 86 years; and
Pardon, who died in 1826, at an advanced age. The&e two^
with their father, gained great celebrity.

Dr. William Bowen, the son of Dr. Ephraim, entered Har-
vard College, and, after one year, removed to Yale College,
where he graduated in 1766. He studied with his father and
attended lectures in Philadelphia. He was an extensive and
successful practitioner, to the last year of his life, which ter-
minated in 1832, at tlie age of 86. He was a polished gen-
tlemen ofxthc old school, of most affable and winning manners.
He educated a large number of pupils, among whom were
Drs. Wheaton, Fiske and Carpenter. He avoided surgical
practice ; but in diseases of women and children he excelled j
and he was particularly skillful in the treatment of fevers,
and a close observer of nature. He was a great sufferer from
periodical gout, and often, in anticipation of an attack, woul'd
accelerate its onset, by wearing stiff cowhide boots. In the
sick-room, his gentleness and suavity of manner won the hearts
of his patients, and made him a most welcome visitor. His
dress was a drab coat, vest and shorts, with yellow topped
boots ; his hair combed back and sometimes powdered and
curled on the temples, and a queue behind. He petitioned
for the Charter, and was the second President of the Society.

Pardon Bowen. — This accomplished physician and excel-
lent man was born in Providence, 1757. He was the fifth son
of Dr. Ephraim Bowen, whose valuable life, protracted to
nearly a century, terminated in 1812. He graduated at
Brown University in the year 1775. After the usual prepara-
tory course of study under his brother,. Dr. William Bowen

13

he, in the year 1779, embarked as the Surgeon of a privateer,
fitted out for the destruction of British commerce. The ship
was soon captured and carried into Halifax, where, during an
imprisonment of seven months, he endured no common priva-
tions and sujffering. After being regularly exchanged, he re-
turned home ; but soon after engaged in repeated enterprises
of the kind, with similar results, until after a hard-fought bat-
tle of two hours, his vessel gained a signal victory over the
enemy, and his prize money made some amends for his suf-
ferings and privations.

Resolved to establish himself in his native town, he, in the
year 1788, attended lectures in Philadelphia, and subsequently
commenced practice in the various branches of his profession-
His progress, though slow at first, gradually acquired speed,
until he attained to the highest eminence, both as a physician
and surgeon, in the State. His kind and conciliatory manner
and warm-hearted benevolence, won the esteem and admira-
tion of all persons.

Dr. Bowen contributed, occasionally, to the Medical Jour-
nals of the day, and in the fourth volume of Hosack's and
Francis's Register, may be found an account from his pen, of
the yellow fever as it prevailed in Providence, in the year
1805. Desirous to keep pace with the progress of the pro-
fession, he was diligent in reading those periodical publica-
tions which are calculated to keep one posted up in all that
relates to discoveries and improvements.

Dr. Bowen was an active member of the Rhode Island
Medical Society, and for seven years its presiding officer.
He was also a Fellow of the American Antiquarian Society,
and a member of the Board of Trustees of Brown University.

In the winter of 1820, the professional usefulness of this
eminent and beloved physician was terminated by an attack
of hemiplegia, which seized him without premonition, and
threatened the immediate extinction of life. The worst fears
of his friends were not, however, thus suddenly realized ; he
partially recovered the use of his limbs, and not long after-

14

wards retired to the residence of his son-in-law, Franklin
Greene, Esquire, Potowomut, (Warwick,) about fifteen miles
from Providence. It was his favorite retreat from the toils
of professional life, and was destined to receive his last sigh,
in the bosom of an affectionate family, on the 25th of October,
1826; aged 69.

The above is chiefly abstracted from an obituary of Dr.
Bowen, contained in Thatcher's Lives of Eminent Physicians,
written by the late Professor Goddard, which concludes in
the following just tribute to his memory: — "By his friends,
he was a man indeed to be ardently loved, for they daily wit-
nessed the benignity of his nature, the engaging suavity of his
manners, the variety and richness and clear intelligence of his
conversation, the generous expansion of his sensibilities, and
the inflexible rectitude of his principles. The pressure of
business never made him careless of the feelings and intei-csts
of others. Indeed, he was remarkable for that moral cultiva-
tion which respects the rights of all ; and few showed a nicer
discernment of the essential peculiarities which distinguish
one being from another, and a more benevolent and delicate
adjustment of all in every class. Notwithstanding his elevat-
ed reputation as a physician, and the opulence of his intel-
lectual attainments, he was on all occasions a pattern of
engaging modesty, seeking rather to support the happiness of
others than to win their applause. Singularly exempt from
that feverish thirst for distinction which is allayed by the
cheap honors of society, he was happy in his walk of revered
but unobtrusive usefulness, ministering to the comfort of his
fellow creatures, when bereaved of health, or oppressed by
poverty, or sinking in death. Though for nearly half a cen-
tury engaged in the active discharge of professional duty, his
heart retained its original purity, uncorrupted by an undue
attachment to wealth or fame. His fortune was never ample
but the stream of his beneficence flowed with an equal and
unchecked current. Such were some of the prominent char-
acteristics of Dr. Pardon Bowen. lie had high capacities

15

and lie exerted them for the good of his kind. His life, in all
its stages, was a beautiful exhibition of the virtues, and, at its
close, an example of Christian holiness. His pure spirit, while
on earth, took a wide and lofty range ; and now that it has
ascended to its Maker, the belief is not presumptuous, that it
is gladdened by the joys of Heaven, and sublimed by the con-
templations of immortality."

Dr. William C. Bowen, M. D,, the only son of Dr. William
Bowen, of Providence, was born June 2d, 1785. He entered
Rhode Island College, but removed to Union College, in
Schenectady, New York, with President Maxcy, at the time
he accepted the presidency of that institution, and was grad-
uated there in 1803. On his return to Providence, he com-
menced the study of medicine with his uncle. Dr. Pardon
Bowen, with whom he continued till 1806, when he embarked
for Europe to complete his education. He studied in Edin-
burg under the instructions of Professor Hamilton, and in
1807 received his degree, choosing for the subject of his
inaugural dissertation, " De Sanguine Mittendo." He passed
some months in Holland, one season in Paris, and went thence
to London, and became the private pupil of Sir Astley Cooper,
with whom he continued till August, 1811. He then returned
to his native city, and commenced the practice of physic and
surgery. In 1811, he was chosen Professor of Chemistry in
Brown University, and delivered two courses of lectures.
About this time, he commenced a course of experiments to
discover the basis of the bleaching liquor which was just then
brought into use in England. Tliis he did, having in view
the formation of a bleaching establishment in Providence.
But the exposure of his lungs in this pursuit, to the action of
noxious acids, laid the foundation of disease that proved
fatal. He died April 23d, 1815, in the thirtieth year of his
age.

In the death of Dr. William C. Bowen, Rhode Island lost
its brightest ornament of the medical profession. No one
before his time had enjoyed the privilege of sitting under the

16

teachings of the first men in Europe, for so great a length of
time ; and, with his ardor in the pursuit of ])rofessional knowl-
edge, he could not fail of attaining to great celebrity. His
suavity and kindness of manner endeared him to all who were
the subjects of his professional care ; and no one could be
more successful in gaining the respect and confidence of the
good and the wise. In proof of this, it may be observed that
his preceptor. Dr. Hamilton, of Edinburg, called him in con-
sultation in a perilous disease of his own wife ; and the wri-
ter of this notice had the satisfaction of hearing very honor-
able mention made of his talents by Sir Astley Cooper. His
labors upon chlorine, though destructive to his own fortune
and health and life, laid the foundation of the present flourish-
ing bleachcries in Rhode Island, that have proved so conducive
to its welfare and prosperity.

Dr. John Walton practiced medicine some years, and be-
came a minister in the First Baptist Church about the year
1730.

Dr. Jonathan Randall died Octobor 17th, 1724, in liis
36th year.

Drs. Ephraim Bowen, Joseph Hewes, Sen., and Jonathan
Arnold were cotemporaries about the revolutionary period,
and were the most eminent physicians of their day, in the
county, if not in the State. Dr. Hewes lived in the street
since named from him. I can gather only that he was consid-
ered a man of talents, and, for that day, well educated. He
took pupils, among whom were Drs. Jonathan Arnold, Ste-
phen Randall and Joseph Hewes, Jr. He was eccentric and
fond of jests and anecdotes. He died September 30th, 1796
aged 82.

Dr. Jonathan Arnold had charge of the Army Hospital
established in Providence during the early part of the revo-
lutionary war, and acted as Purveyor of medical supplies.
Some years after peace was restored, he was sent as a repre-

17

sentative to Congress, which office his son, the late Lemuel
H. Arnold, afterwards held. Dr. Arnold resided at the foot
of Constitution Hill. He finally moved to the State of Ver-
mont, where he died.

Dr. Joseph Hewes, Jr., died August, 1770, aged 32 years.

Stephen Randall was a pupil of Dr. Hewes, and practiced
at the North end. He died March 15th, 1843, aged 81.

Dr. John Bass was first a clergyman in the present church
of Rev. Dr. Hall.

Ephraim Comstock, son of Dr. Benjamin, of Smithfield,
died of yellow fever, 1797, aged 37.

Dr. Amos Throop, whose name stands at the head of the
list of Presidents of the Rhode Island Medical Society, was
born in Woodstock, Conn., in the year 1738. He left home
early in life, and came to Providence, poor and friendless,
where he practiced medicine until his death, in April, 1814,
at the age of 76 years. He is represented as kind to the
poor, and indulgent, if not negligent, in the collection of his
bills, even of the rich, most of whose bills remained to be col.
lected after his decease ; and it is known that one of his bills
against a man was for his own delivery into the world. He
was the first male accoucheur in Providence.

Soon after his arrival in Providence, he married Mary Ber-
non Crawford, and was mainly indebted to her skill and
sagacity in the sale and purchase of drugs and medicines.
Physicians, in his time, furnished their own medicines, and aug-
mented their meagre charges for visits by a liberal profit on
the doses they prescribed.

Foreseeing an interruption of the importations from Eng-
land at the commencement of the revolution, the doctor's wife
induced him to order an extraordinarily large invoice of druo-s
and medicines, from a London correspondent, to the utmost
extent of his means of payment. To prevent disappointment
3

18

by miscarriage of the order, a copy was dispatclicd by the
next vessel, without the usual mercantile prefix of ^^ duplicate.''
In due time a reply was received, advising of the shipment of
both orders, to the dismay of the doctor. The seasonable
arrival of such an extraordinary quantity of drugs and medi-
cines at the commencement of the revolutionary war proved
highly beneficial to the inhabitants of the colonies, and to the
soldiers of the army, and also to the author of this fortunate
mistake, in particular.

In personal appearance, Dr. Throop was tall, and of an
erect, combined with a commanding deportment; and dis-
played the characteristics of "a gentleman of the old school."
In accordance with the fashion of the day, he wore a powdered
wig, with several stiff tiers of curls imported direct from
London. It is narrated that the wig box was appropriated
and used for a chopping-tray for force meat balls, by the
French cook who served several officers of the French army,
then quarte'red in the house of Dr. Throop.

During some period of the war. Dr. Throop volunteered to
serve in a military company. Here he was selected to serve
in the capacity of fugleman. He humorously described the
shock which his military pride received at a review, when, in
an attempt to shoulder his musket in an exemplary style, it
fell to the ground simultaneously with his cocked hat and wio-.
He affirmed that he was ever afterwards content to confine
his ambition to serving as a son of Esculapius instead of a
son of Mars, and to display his skill in the use of blue pills
instead of leaden ones.

Dr. Throop was elected a representative of the town of
Providence, in the General Assembly of the State, during sev-
eral sessions, and served as President of the Exchange Bank
of this city, from its first establishment to the time of his
death. He left no children, and his family name became ex-
tinct in Providence.

• 19

The following sketch of Dr. Wheaton's life is condensed
from an elaborate discourse read before the Rhode Island
Historical Society : —

Levi Wheaton was born in Providence, R. I., February
6th, 1761. He was the son of Deac(5n Ephraim Wheaton, and
the fourth lineal descendant of Robert Wheafcon, who emi-
grated from Wales, and settled in Rehoboth, Mass., about the
year 1640. * * *

He entered Rhode Island College in 1774, but in conse-
quence of the national disturbances of the times, his colle-
giate course was interrupted in 1776, and he did not graduate
as A. B. till 1782. In the meantime, however, he had pur-
sued his classical studies, and without any definite object in
view, not having decided upon a profession, he read, during
this period, some of the standard works upon medicine and
surgery. He also, during this interruption of his regular
course of studies, had an opportunity of seeing something of
medical and surgical practice in the ofi&ce of Dr. Hewes, a
friend and neighbor. At the age of sixteen, he passed a sea-
son in the town of Smithfield, teaching school. In referring
to this period of his life, in an autobiography, written some
two or three years before his death, he says that he became
familiar with Pope's works, at an early age ; and after making
some remarks upon that author, he adds : — " I record this
especially as an event in my life, for, strange as it may seem,
I think I can say with truth, no writer has had so much influ-
ence on my tone of thinking of men and things."

In the year 1778, he entered the Military Hospital in
Providence, as a volunteer. The summer of 1779 he passed
at Westerly, studying medicine with Dr. Babcock, and in the
following year he completed his medical education under the
tuition of Dr. William Bowen, of Providence. After finishing
his medical education, he served as Surgeon on board a priva-
teer; and in the autumn of 1782, while cruising off the south-
ern coast, was taken prisoner and carried into New York, by
the British frigate Vestal. While detained prisoner in New

20 •

York; he had charge, for soiJI months, of the Prison Hospital
Ship Falmouth ; and ever afterwards this event was recalled
with much pleasure, as having afforded him an opportunity of
rendering some good offices to his imprisoned countrymen.
After the close of the war, he accepted an invitation to settle
in Hudson, N. Y., which was then being settled by eastern
people. He remained in Hudson some ten years, during
which time he not only practiced his profession with success,
but was appointed to several public offices of trust and emolu-
ment. The settlement of Hudson, however, after a few years'
experiment, proved a failure ; the town declined as rapidly as
it had grown, and the doctor becoming dissatisfied with his
prospects, removed to New York city, where he spent two
years, when the death of Dr. Comstock, who was doing a
large business in Providence, seemed to make an opening for
him, and he yielded to urgent solicitations of his friends,
to return and permanently establish himself in his native town.

In the early part of his career in Providence, he, in connec-
tion with Dr. William Bo wen, established a Small Pox Hos-
pital, to which many resorted for inoculation.

When, in 1812, a Medical School was organized in Broprn
University, Dr. Wheaton was appointed Professor of the
Theory and Practice of Physic ; but the school not being well
sustained, he did not at that time lecture. Dr. William In-
galls, of Boston, was appointed Professor of Anatomy and
Surgery, and gave one or two courses of lectures upon those
subjects at the University, and then transferred his lectures
to Boston. When, however, in 1822, the Medical School was
reorganized, Dr. Wheaton gave three or four courses of lec-
tures upon the Theory and Practic of Physic and Obstetrics
which were very creditable to his talents.

Dr. Wheaton was for many years one of the corporation of
Brown University, and, at the time of his decease, was at the
head of the list of that honorable body. He was for many
years Physician to the Marine Hospital at the port of Provi-
dence. This, besides affording him a small cash salarv en^

21

abled him to give his students, of whom he had many, advan-
tages superior to those generally enjoyed in this locality.

As a practitioner, Dr. Wheaton was cautious, but not timid ;
and though inclined to conservatism, he did not hesitate to
essay any new remedy when proposed by those in whose
opinions he had confidence ; or to adopt new views when
emanating from a reliable source, and bearing the impress of
plausibility ; or, in other words, if he was cautious in admit-
ting new doctrines and relying upon new remedies, he was
not like one blind to the progress of the art.

His practice was based upon the theory, that diseases, in
this climate at least, are generally inflammatory, and, that
when inflammation is controlled, the disease subsides, as a
necessary consequence; hence, venesection, tart, antimony,
nit. potash, Epsom salts and calomel were among the reme-
dies upon which he placed the greatest reliance. It was a
common remark with him, " that we did not bleed enough ;
that there was no remedy of equal value in the treatment of
our diseases." He has repeatedly told the writer, that he
had not had occasion to regret bleeding, in more than two or
three instances in the whole course of his practice ; but that
he had very frequently regretted the omission of it. What-
ever views may be entertained upon this subject in this age
of improvements, when the resources of the art are almost
indefinitely multiplied ; or whatever changes may have taken
place in the essential characters of diseases requiring modi-
fications in treatment, no one who practiced medicine thirty
or forty years ago, will doubt the success that attended the
practice of bleeding at that time, or, indeed, that it really was
the most potent means then known of controlling morbid ac-
tion. Emetics and cathartics he dispensed much more fre-
quently, and in a greater number of diseases and conditions
than are at the present time prescribed. Opium, in its vari-
ous preparations, was, particularly in the latter part of his
life a favorite medicine ; and, in common with many others,
he extended the use of it to diseases and conditions in which

22

it had previously been prescribed Avith great caution, if not
deemed wholly inadmissible. Among the other narcotics,
conium and hyoscyamus were those which he most frequently
prescribed. Belladonna and stramonium he seldom used, and
aconite, veratrium viride, cannabis indica and a multitude of
other remedies, now so much in vogue, constituted no part of
his materia medica.

It was his usual practice to make brief memoranda of his
cases every night, in his day-book, in connection with his
charges for services, to which he would occasionally refer, to
refresh his memory. It was rarely, however, that he had oc-
casion to make such a reference, and those who knew him
will recollect how particularly and circumstantially he would
relate a case of days, or even weeks' duration, from his un-
aided memory. Every symptom and every prescription would
be recalled with the utmost exactness.

It Avas not only as the thoroughly read and sound practical
physician, that Dr. Whcaton was entitled to preeminence ;
but he was still more so as a man of erudition and general
scholarship. He was a fine classical scholar, and was, to an
unusual extent, familiar with both ancient and modern litera-
ture, and ready and frequent in his quotations in conversation.
He never, to the last day of his life, ceased to be a student ;
nor did he in the least lose his interest in the literature of
the age. Few works of any pretentions, whether medical,
scientific or literary, escaped his notice.

As a prose writer, he had but few superiors ; and he some-
times amused himself and friends with a poetical production.
In the latter part of his life 'he often expressed the regret
that he had not devoted a portion of his leisure time to the
preparation of some work for publication, — a regret in which
all who knew him must participate. He says upon this sub-
ject : — " I live to regret that I have wasted days and years
and midnight oil, in desultory reading, with little other object
than present amusement, with a mind passive rather than ac-
tive, my brain a thoroughfare for other men's thoughts with-

23

out exacting toll. For the health of the mind, as well as the
body, due attention should be paid, not only to the quality
and quantity of food taken, but to the time and space allotted
for digestion. The brain, as well as the stomach, may be
overloaded. Selection and method are essential to both; not
all minds are omnivorous, yet the majority of readers are
blinded by the opposite conceit."

An article upon Yellow Fever, as it appeared in Provi-
dence, and another upon Calomel, were published many years
ago in one of the Philadelphia Journals. In 1832, a some-
what lengthy and valuable article upon Asiatic Cholera, from
his pen, was published in the city newspapers ; and later in
life he contributed several papers to the Boston Medical and
Surgical Journal, over the signature of " Senex." All these
contributions to the general stock of knowledge, however,
were ephemeral in their nature, — were admired for a season
and then forgotten, and are wholly inadequate testimonials of
his real ability.

Dr. Wheaton, in his stature, was tall and erect ; in his de-
portment, was dignified and graceful. In his intercourse with
members of the profession he was courteous and honorable,
and he was always ready to instruct and advise in a friendly
manner, those who applied to him for counsel, whether upon
professional or other subjects.

To omit to speak particularly of the qualities of his heart
would be to leave the story but half told. It is the general
opinion that the physician becomes hardened to scenes of suf-
fering and death, and his heart callous to human misery.
This opinion, it is to be hoped, is unfounded in fact ; but how-
ever it may be as a general rule, it was not so in the case of
the subject of this sketch. Whenever he had under his care
a painful and critical case, he seemed to experience the most
extreme solicitude. It would be the all engrossing subject
of his thought and the topic of his conversation. The best
authorities would be examined, and perchance a medical friend
consulted. The writer has more than once seen him walkino;

24

his room at a late hour at night, wholly absorbed in anxious
thought upon some critical case, and this, too, when the death
of his patient would not have materially affected his reputa-
tion or his interest. Upon this subject he has thus spoken
for himself. He says : — " I have at present two patients for
whom I feel much anxiety. It is one of the miseries of the
medical man, to meet with cases he cannot cure, and of the
issue of which he is at least very doubtful, and painfully to
forebode the complicated sufferings of a bereaved family.
How often, alas, has my heart been wrung in this way for the
last fifty years, and yet I am still in the land of the living !
It is, indeed, a painful responsibility to see ourselves looked
up to as guardian angels, and feel our insufficiency, — our utter
inability to save the victim of disease. As far as I can ana-
lyze my own feelings, they are for the most part disinterested j
homo sum ! but sometimes, and often, the thought will obtrude
itself, — am I not defeated and disgraced ? If my conscience
assures me of good intentions, were those intentions medi-
cally good ? Were they fairly fulfilled, or were there not er-
rors ? Qua) incuria fudit, or, after all, will public opinion
support mc ? How will it affect my living, my reputation, —
that fancied life in others breath ? Ah, what a life is that of
a physician !"

His death, which occurred August 29th, 1852, was sudden
and painless. He had, for some time, had an anomalous and
troublesome affection of the left arm, and it was his opinion
that tlicre was a metastasis of that affection to the heart.
The night previous to his death, which occurred in the morn-
ing, he had the diarrhoea, but how much that had to do with
severing the long-drawn and tapering thread of life is uncer-
tain. He was fully aware, for an hour perhaps before he ex-
pired, that his end was fast approaching ; but he manifested
no alarm or concern. He seemed to contemplate his case in
a professional point of view, and to consider it a phenomenon
in pathology.

While his afflicted family were standing around his dvino-

25

bed, listening to catch the last accents of his feeble voice, and
administering to his last earthly wants, he requested them to
read the following appropriate and beautiful prayer from
Burns : —

" O Thou unknown, Almighty Cause
Of all my hope and fear ;
In Whose dread presence, ere an hour,

Perhaps I must appear ; —
If I have wandered in those paths

Of life I ought to shun,
As something, loudly, in my breast,

Remonstrates I have done ;
Thou know'st that Thou hast formed me

With passions wild and strong ;
And list'ning to their witching voice

Has often led me wrong.
Where human weakness has come short.

Or frailty stept aside.
Do Thou, all good ! for such Thou art, —

In shades of darkness hide.
Where, with intention, I have err'd.

No other plea I have.
But Thou art good ; and goodness still
Delighteth to forgive."

This request having been complied with, he very shortly
afterwards sank calmly and imperceptibly into the sleep of
death.

Thus passed away from the busy scenes of life, a man who
had, for an uncommonly long series of years, been a useful
and efficient member of society, an affectionate husband, a
kind and indulgent father, and a physician and scholar who
has had but few superiors in any age or country.

[Dr. Capron.]

Solomon Drowne, M. D. — Solomon Drowne was born in
Providence, R. I., on the 11th of March, 1753. He was a
descendant of Leonard Drowne, who came from England about
the year 1670, and settled near Portsmouth, N. H. : but in
1692, on account of the Indian wars, removed to Boston.
His grandson, Solomon Drowne, the father of the subject of
4

26

the present sketch, became a resident of Providence in 1 730,
and was a prominent and useful citizen of this place for over
half a century. Dr. Drowne, the second of his three children,
was from early youth inclined to a life of study. Graduating
at Brown University, in the class of 1773, with the highest
honors, he studied medicine, for a year, under Dr. William
Bowen," and in the autumn of 1774, commenced attending
lectures in the University of Pdtnsylvania, at which he re-
ceived his medical degree.

While engaged in his professional studies, he took an active
interest in the military affairs of his native city, preparing,
as it was, for the revolutionary struggle ; and assisted, himself,
in throwing up the fortifications in the vicinity, At a later
period, he entered the service of the United States, as sur-
geon's mate in the General Hospital, under Dr. John Morgan,
Director General of the Hospitals, and was in New York at
the time of its evacuation by the American troops ; at West-
chester, New Castle, and other places in the State of New
York; and at Norwalk in Connecticut. In 1777, he was in
the Rhode Island State Hospital, for seven months ; he was
then promoted to the rank of Surgeon in Col. Crary's regi-
ment, and in August, 1778, was in Sullivan's Expedition upon
Rhode Island. After this, he was stationed for a time at
Bristol, and on the 3d of August, 1780, was appointed Sur-
geon to Lieut. Col. Atwell's regiment.

The war of the revolution being over. Dr. Drowne com-
menced the practice of medicine in Providence. In 1783, he
was elected to the Board of Fellows of Brown University, and
was for a time its secretary. Desirous of perfecting, as far
as possible, his professional education, in 1784 he visited
Europe. « Some of my friends," he writes, on his passage,
" expressed surprise at my quitting my liome, and exposing
myself to the fatigues and many disagreeable circumstances
incident to so long a voyage, charitably deeming me sufficiently
qualified for the practice of my profession. For my own part,
I confess a strong, persevering desire, with bold, adventurous

27

hand, to unfurl the veil that conceals from me the charms of
nature and art ; to visit different nations, and view the living
manners as they rise ; to penetrate as much as possible the
source of useful knowledge ; and, especially, to accomplish
myself in the divine art of healing. Why did the Grecian
philosophers and physicians travel to Egypt, <fec. ? But why
do I ask this question ? Can any one sit down at home and
reach the sublimer hights of science ? No ; the sage Seneca
knew better, seventeen centuries ago, when he said ' Imperi-
tum est animal homo, et sine magna experientia rerum, si cir-
cumscribatur natalis soli sui fine.' " After a stormy and
tedious passage of sixty-one days, in the depth of winter, he
reached London, and for several months attended the Hospi-
tals of St. Bartholomew, St. Thomas, and Guy's, hearing lec-
tures from Cline, Hunter, and others. While in England, he
formed the acquaintance of Doctors Pole, Moreton, Lettsom,
and Sharpe ; also that of Mr. Granville Sharpe, Sheridan, and
others, with many of whom he afterwards corresponded. In
May, 1785, he crossed to the Hague, and after travelling over
Holland and Belgium, proceeded to Paris. Here he attended
the lectures of Pelleton, Louis, Brisson and others ; and visit-
ed the various hospitals almost daily. During his stay in
France, he became acquainted with several distinguished men
of the time, whom he met at the table of Dr. Franklin, at
whose house at Passy he was a frequent guest j and also at
the residence of Gov. Jefferson, who soon after succeeded
Franklin as our minister in Paris. His journal, during this
period, contains a minute and lively description of all promi-
nent places and objects of interest-, particularly botanical gar-
dens, rare plants, and works of art, for which he always
cherished a partiality amounting to enthusiasm.

On his return to Providence, he resumed the practice of
his profession; but shortly after, in 1788, journeyed to Ohio,
and resided for nearly a year at Marietta, having become one
of the proprietors of the Ohio Company. While in this place
he attended Gen. Yarnum, then one of the judges in the

28

Northwestern Territory, in the illness of which he died ; and,
at the request of the Ohio Company, pronounced his funeral
eulogy, January 13th, 1789. He was present at the first
anniversary of the settlement of Marietta, April 7th, 1789,
on which occasion he delivered an oration in reference to that
event, which was published. Subsequently, he resumed his
practice in Providence ; but, in consequence of ill-health, re-
moved again to the West in 1792, and settled for a time at
Morgantown, Virginia. In the spring of 1794, the danger
from the border incursions of the Indians being over, he pro-
ceeded to Union, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he
resided seven years. Here he delivered four orations com-
memorative of American Independence, and also an eulogy on
Gen. "Washington, " in conformity to the proclamation of the
President of the United States," February 22d, 1800, all of
which were published at the time, and were distinguished for
their classical elegance and patriotic spirit.

Dr. Drowne retraced his steps to Rhode Island, in 1801,
and soon afterwards settled in the town of Foster, purchasing
an estate adjoining that of his friend, the Hon. Theodore Fos-
ter, for many years a senator in Congress, who expected, ere
long, to withdraw from public life and become his permanent
neighbor. He was led to select this spot, from several con-
siderations. He was exceedingly fond of rural life, and a
close student and warm admirer of nature. The varied char-
acter of the scenery here, diversified as it is by thrifty groves,
abrupt hills, and frequent streams ; the high elevation, so
favorable to health and longevity ; and the perfect retirement,
so congenial to his tastes, and well adapted for literary and
botanical pursuits, made this sylvan retreat peculiarly attrac-
tive to him. In allusion to its healthfulness, he called it
Mount Hygeia, a name which it still bears. Here he built a
spacious residence, and settled down for the remainder of his
days, devoting himself to his professional engagements, to
agriculture, and to elegant letters. His first care was to
adorn his grounds with a .great variety of ornamental and

29

fruit trees, obtained from different parts of the country ; and
to arrange a botanical garden, which, in a few years, for its
size, rare and beautiful plants, and careful cultivation, as well
as from the circumstance that it was the first garden of the
kind in the State, acquired a wide notoriety, and was visited
from far and near. From his professional tours, which ex-
tended to Providence, and not unfrequently to other States,
he always returned with seeds or plants to enrich his collec-
tion. He also sent abroad for plants, and was the first to
introduce many new species into our country, which have since
become common. In his greenhouse of exotics, and his ex-
tensive garden grounds filled with countless varieties of indi-
genous and acclimated plants, where he daily walked to enjoy
the scene, to give directions for their proper culture, or for
the purpose of scientific study ; with his extensive library, of
which a large portion was in the French language, and of the
greatest value in medicine and botany; and more than all,
in the society of his wife and children, who had imbibed his
tastes and participated in his studies ; and in the society Of
cultivated friends visiting him. Dr. Drowne gave himself up
to unalloyed enjoyment during the intervals which he could
pass at home.

In 1811, Dr. Drowne was appointed Professor of Materia
Medica and Botany in Brown University, and delivered
courses of lectures in that institution until a few years before
his death, and occasionally, also, to private classes in Provi-
dence and other cities. " His attention to Botany," says a
brother physician in a published sketch of his life, "was
directed not more to the philosophy of the science than to its
practical uses in agriculture and medicine. It may truly be
said, that no individual in this State has equalled him in these
practical applications. "^" * As a popular lecturer on Bot-
any, Dr. Drowne has probably never been equalled in this
country. His various knowledge, fine classical taste, and
lively imagination, eminently qualified him to illustrate and
embellish the science of which he was an enamoured votary

30

from early youth." Under his direction, the students of
Brown University began, upon the college grounds, a botanical
garden, which, had it been kept up to the present time, would
not only have contributed to the health and mental recreation
of the undergraduates, and assisted them in their studies of
vegetable physiology and chemistry, but would have largely
promoted the arts of floriculture, horticulture, and agriculture
throughout the State.

The Rhode Island Medical Society, of which Dr. Drowne
was vice-president, appointed him a delegate to the Conven-
tion that formed the National Pharmacopoeia in 1819. A few
years later, at the oft-repeated request of the Society, he gave
the annual address, — a performance which furnishes an accu-
rate index to his professional opinions and practice. " Were
I to prefix a text to my brief, desultory discourse," he said,
"it would be 'In simplici, solus ;^ — restoration to health de-
pends on simplicity in remedies ; or, more literally, there is
safety in simple things. What a farrago of drugs has been,
and perhaps still is, used by many physicians. ' I have really
seen in private practice, and in some public writings,' says
Huxham, ' such a jumble of things thrown together in one pre-
scription, that it would have puzzled Apollo himself to know
what it was designed for.' A practitioner in the country said
that the quantity, or rather complexity, of the medicines which
he gave his patients, was always increased in a ratio with the
obscurity of the cases ; ' if,' said he, ' I fire a great profusion
of shot, it is very extraordinary if some do not hit the mark.'
A patient in the hands of such a practitioner has not a much
better chance than the Chinese mandarin, who, upon being
attacked with any disease, calls in twelve or more physicians,
and then swallows, in one mixture, all the potions which each
separately prescribes. Bewildered by thorny theories, un-
stable as the phases of the moon, it would be far better for
the practitioner to tread the path pointed out by a strict ob-
servance of nature. * * On a review of my own practice,
I think I have perceived greater advantages from the use of

31

simple indigenous remedies, than of others commonly pre-
scribed. * * It is to the simplicity and paucity of reme-
dies used, — to attention to the natural habit and regimen, that
I can, with least hesitancy, ascribe my success in practice.
By this I would not be understood to boast of cures perform-
ed ; those were effected by the work of nature. What can
we do more than merely to regulate the vis medicatrix naturcE,
the self-preserving energy, by exciting it when languid, re-
straining it when vehement, in changing morbid action, or in
obviating pain or irritation, when they oppose its salutary
courses ?" The change which has gradually come over the
medical practice in this regard, since his day, shows the wis-
dom and foresight of the principles which he advocated. And
it cannot be doubted that, to his patient observation of the
natural habit of his patients, and the use of mild medicines,
his great eminence in chronic diseases, and with constitutions
enfeebled almost beyond the relief of ordinary remedies, is
mainly to be attributed.

Dr. Drowne was deeply interested in the Rhode Island So-
ciety for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, in the
organization and proceedings of which he took an active part :
and on October 15th, 1823, and on several subsequent occa-
sions, he delivered the annual addresses. These contain
many original and valuable practical suggestions ; and, no
doubt, tended to excite in the minds of all who heard or read
them, a spirit of enterprise and emulation for an intelligent
cultivation of the soil, for ornamental gardening with its en-
chanting scenery, and for whatever could add to the attrac-
tiveness and comfort of their rural abodes. His last address,
delivered on September 23d, 1833, when he was over eighty
years old, treats of the great benefits to be derived from the
combined Agricultural, Classical and Mechanical School at
Pawtuxet, in the establishment of which, under the auspices
of the Agricultural Society, he had long been a warm advo-
cate. He earnestly recommends to the founders and students
of the institution, to lay out a botanical garden, for the in-

Ok)

troduction and trial of all foreign and other plants, whicli
might prove worthy of general cultivation ; for testing the
qualities of soils, rotation of crops, &c. ; and thus to ascertain
important facts, and publish them for the public benefit. It
was his often expressed opinion throughout life, that the most
useful, honorable, and independent occupation in the world
was that of the husbandman. " Health* acuteness of intellect,
and contentment, — heaven's choicest blessings," he was wont
to say, " spring from such excellent exercise."

In 1824, he published the "Compendium of Agriculture, or
the Farmer's Guide in the most essential parts of Husbandry
and Gardening," a treatise of which it was justly remarked,
that, " it would be diflBcult, in the same number of words, to
comprise a greater number of ideas which may prove practi-
cally important to the agriculturist."

At the earnest request of the citizens of Providence, Dr.
Drownc delivered before them, on February 23d, 1824, an
" Oration in Aid of the Cause of the Greeks," whose unequal
struggle with the Turks was at that time calling forth the
sympathy and assistance of this country. Towards the close
of this able and highly finished oration, after eloquently por-
traying the inhuman barbarities which the inhabitants of
Cyprus and Scio were suffering, and when his fervid manner
had somewhat wearied his strength and lowered the tones of
his voice, already tremulous with age, he introduces the fol-
lowing happy allusions to himself: — "There is a sort of
magic in the name of Greece. Often, in fancy, have I roamed
about the classic fields and groves of that felicitous re"-ion
transported by a thousand agreeable associations. 'Tis true
Parnassus' dizzy hight I dared not climb. It fitted better to
.haunt Boeotian shades, and listen to the wood-notes sweet of
Hesiod, when he sung the rural cares of Grecian husbandmen.
Or, to ramble with Theophrastus, and gather interesting plants
upon the Lesbian hills, or the delightful slopes of Mount Hy-
mettus, or where

' Elissus rolls his whisp'ring streams.'

* * 0 Greece ! thou wert the cradle of all that is elegant
in art ; of all that is fascinating in poetry and literature ; of
all that is excellent in legislative and political science, or
splendid in martial achievements ; of all, in a word, that can
add interest and true nobility to the human character. Thy
mighty genius has slumbered for many ages ; but it is now
awakening from a long night of melancholy stupor, and shed-
ding gleams of glory round thee, emulative of that which
adorned thee in the zenith of thy former splendor. We,
though far remote, and separated from thee by the multitudi-
nous waves of ocean and the midland sea, yet cannot look
with frigid indifference upon thy virtuous struggles, for all
that mankind hold most dear. There are still some remain-
ing among us, who have participated in like conflicts, for the
ennobling prize of Liberty ! Ancient nursery of Freedom —
Greece ! — farewell : but we bid the not farewell^ without an
effort to a!>sist thee.^''

" The effect of this touching appeal," writes one who was
present, " was hightened by the circumstances of the occasion.
The thrilling tones of a heavy choir, chanting —

' Sound the loud trump o'er the ^gean sea ;

The Moslem has fallen, and Greece shall be free ! ' —

the reverential aspect of an aged clergyman, earnestly invok-
ing Heaven's interposition in behalf of a bleeding people, —
and the venerable head of the orator, bowed with years, and
white as the snow through whose chilling depths he had wad-
ed to plead their cause before an assembled multitude, with
such fervor and pathos, — gave to the scene an air of moral
sublimity, rarely equalled."

Dr. Drowne departed this life on February 5th, 1834, after
a brief illness, at the advanced age of eighty-one years ; and
was buried on an eminence near his residence, overlooking
the orchard and garden grounds, and under the shade of his
favorite robinias. His wife, Elizabeth Russell, of Boston,
whom he married November 20th, 1777, survived him several
years, dying May 15th, 1844, in her eighty-sixth year.

34

In stature, Dr. DroWnc was a little lower than the common
hight ; in his manners and conversation, polished and engag-
ino- : and while exceedingly fond of cultivated society, at the
same time fond of retirement. He was inclined to abstrac-
tion, and often, in visiting his patients, has been known, when
his attention has been arrested by botanical objects, to be-
come so absorbed in his favorite science as to cause serious
delay. His love of nature was always an absorbing passion.
The ancient Greek and Roman classics, and English poetry
and literature generally, were his constant delight. During
his whole life, he was a careful and laborious reader of books,
and when interested in a volume was usually retained for
hours in a standing posture ; and having a retentive memory,
he amassed an inexhaustible fund of useful and interesting
information on all subjects, which, with his amiable and cour-
teous bearing, made him a most welcome guest wherever he
went. His public orations and addresses are highly credita-
ble to him as a man of refined taste and varied acquisitions ;
while his delivery was noted for its natural grace and impas-
sioned eloquence.

Dr. Drowne was a member of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, and an honorary member of several other
learned bodies. He was extensively known, by reputation, to
the medical profession throughout the United States and
abroad. A few years before his death, he prepared, by re-
quest, an account of the climate, mineral springs, medicinal
substances, diseases and mode of treatment, &c., of his native
State, for the Royal College of Physicians in London. He
carried on an extensive correspondence with many eminent
medical and scientific men in Europe and America. Besides
the publications already noticed, he contributed numerous
articles to newspapers and scientific journals ; and left, in
manuscript, several occasional addresses, a number of journals
of tours in this country and Europe, and an extensive course
of lectures on Botany and Materia Medica.

35

East Greenwich. — Dr. Dutee Jerauld settled in East Green-
wich, in the year 1742. He was a native of Medfield, Mass.
His parents were French. His father was a physician. After
residing in this town four or five years, he removed into War-
wick, on the road to Apponaug, at a point about equi-distant
between the two villages. The house in which he lived is
now owned by the town, and used as an asylum for the poor.
He died in July, 1813, at the advanced age of 91 years.

From all that can be learned, at this date, of the character
of Dr. Jerauld, he must have been a worthy and estimable
man. For many years after his death, his memory was fondly
cherished by a large circle of friends and patients ; and many
anecdotes and incidents of his life are still told, which plainly
show the genial humor and benevolent spirit of his character.

As a physician, his mode of practice never, at any time,
approached the heroic order ; and in the latter period of his
life, when his business was chiefly confined to chronic diseases,
it was extremely mild and simple, and if it was inefficacious,
had the merit of doing no harm, — his kind manner and en-
couraging words doing more towards the cure or comfort of
h^'s patients than the roots and herbs, of which his prescrip-
tions mainly consisted.

Dr. Peter Turner came to East Greenwich and establish-
ed himself as a physician and surgeon, in 1782. Dr. Turner
was the son of Dr. William Turner, of Newark, New Jersey,
and the grandson of Captain William Turner, of Newport,
Rhode Island. He was born September 2d, 1751; married,
in 1776, the daughter of Cromwell Childs, of Warren, and
died in East Greenwich, February 14th, 1822. Of his early
life, I have been able to learn but little. His father died
when he was very young, and left him in the care of his half-
brother. Dr. Canfield, with whom he studied medicine. At
the breaking out of the revolution, he joined the army, and
was attached to one of the Rhode Island regiments, (Col.
Greene's,) as Surgeon, and served through the whole war.

36

He was induced to settle in this town, from the fact that he
had formed many acquaintances here, in the army ; and also,
from the circumstance that Gen. Varnum, wlio was his bro-
ther-in law, resided here, at that time.

Dr. Turner was the first Surgeon who had ever practiced
in this part of the State. Coming from the army, the good
people of the neighboring country looked upon him with no
little distrust, fearing that he might take off an arm or a leg,
without even so much as saying, " by your leave." But this
feeling of apprehension soon wore off, and he was engaged in
a very large practice, extending ten miles, or more, in every
direction. He was considered a skillful Surgeon, and a bold
and successful operator ; and from all accounts, he much pre-
ferred this department of his calling to the practice of medi-
cine. As a physician, he pursued, as a general rule, a routine
system, strictly following the injunctions he had received from
authority, in early life, and looking with but little favor upon
any innovation or improvement which trespassed upon ac-
knowledged doctrine; and if some of the novelties of our
own time had existed in his day, they would have met with
decided opposition and disapprobation.

In his figure and personal appearance. Dr. Turner was
short and rather fleshy. He had lost the sight of one eye,
over which he wore a green patch, or shaded it with his hand,
as he walked in the streets. He was very active and quick
in all his movements ; social in his habits ; fond of conversa-
tion and anecdote, and no man could tell a story with a bet-
ter grace.

Dr. Turner had, at different times, many students, some of
them afterwards our most respectable physicians. The late
Dr. William Turner, of Newport, who was his nephew and
son-in-law, finished his course of study in his office. The late'
Dr. Tibbitts, of Apponaug, was a pupil of his, and Dr. Thomas
Tillinghast, who resided in the southwest part of the town
of East Greenwich, and had a limited practice, devoting a
part of his time to religious duties, as a preacher; and, also,

37

his sons, Daniel, — who removed to St. Mary's, Georgia, and died
of yellow fever ; Henry, who left the profession and went to
the west and afterwards to the south, where he is now living ;
and the present Dr. James V. Turner, of Newport.

For several years previous to his death. Dr. Turner was
confined to his room, and for a great part of the time, render-
ed entirely helpless by a paralysis. He died February 14th,
1822, and was buried with Masonic honors, in a spot of his
own selection, a short distance from his residence ; but within
a few years, his remains have been removed to Newport, and
deposited in the family burying-ground.

Charles Eldredge, M. D., was born in Brooklyn, Conn.,
1784. His father, James Eldredge, Esq., a native of Stoning-
ton, and at the commencement of the revolutionary war, he
was a merchant. He joined the army and served as a cap-
tain, and in the commissary department. At the close of the
war, he removed to Brooklyn and purchased an estate on the
banks of the Quinnebaug, where he raised thirteen children,
Charles being the ninth. Having improved his opportunities
for a preparatory education for medicine, he spent two years
in teaching school, and then became a pupil of Dr. Thomas
Hubbard, of Pomfret. He then attended lectures in Phila-
delphia, and returning to Pomfret, he assisted his preceptor
for some months, and then settled inEast Greenwich, in 1810.
He was soon engaged in extensive practice, not only in Green-
wich, but also in the neighboring towns.

He was active and public spirited in the affairs of the town,
its busines and its institutions of religion and learning, and a
liberal contributor ta its welfare, aud took a deep interest in
the public affairs of the State. In 1826, he was elected to
the senate of the State, and reelected four successive years.

Reared on a farm, and spending much of his time in his
early years in its cultivation, he always retained a fondness
for agriculture, and, by precept and example, did much to-
wards introducing improvements.

38

To the unfortunate and afflicted, ho was ever ready with
his sympathy and substantial aid. A terror to truant boys
and vagabond men, he often took upon himself their guardian-
ship, and succeeded in improving and informing them.

Although he could find opportunity to concern himself in
the affairs of the town, by far the largest share of his time
and thoughts were absorbed in professional duties. Com-
mencing business when a malignant epidemic was raging over
this part of New England, hia practice became arduous and
trying.

A disciple of Rush, his treatment of disease was marked by
the peculiarities which the teachings of that distinguished
man had given, and excited the criticisms of the neighboring
physicians, and severe remarks from some of the most intelli-
gent inhabitants of the town. His decided, consistent and
honorable course of conduct soon gained for him the respect
of one and the confidence and esteem of the other. The
character of Dr. Rush he always held in the highest estima-
tion, and professed himself the follower of his school of medi-
cine ; but probably he was much more indebted to himself
than to any school or theory, for his success. His habits and
power of observation, his quick perception and clear judg-
ment enabled him to notice and to appreciate every shade
and variety which disease assumed. The epidemic tendency
and influence of the season, — the peculiar constitution and
idiosyncrasy of the patient, were always his careful study, and
his prescriptions and treatment were adapted to their circum-
stances. Never hesitating to use potent means when the
urgency of the case demanded, it was not his practice to give
frequent doses to satisfy the whim of the patient, or to keep
up appearances among the friends. His materia medica was
simple, relying more upon well timed and efficient blows, than
upon oft repeated and random shots. Without pretensions
to remarkable literary acquirements, he kept himself well
informed in the progress of medical science, and everything

39

new in the way of improvement which his judgment and his
experience could approve, he readily adopted.

For the practice of surgery, he was physically and mentally
well fitted, and although he did not devote himself to it spe-
cially, his extensive reputation and acquaintance called him to
all critical cases happening within a circuit of many miles.
It was his pride to avoid rather than to perform heroic ope-
rations, and many times I have heard him speak with much
satisfaction of the limbs he had saved after those frightful
lacerations and fractures which so often happen in our cotton
mills.

For the medical profession, he always manifested the live-
liest interest. He was one of the petitioners for the charter
of the Rhode Island Medical Society, and among its earliest
members. In 1834, he was chosen President, and continued
to hold the office for three years. He was an honorary mem-
ber of the Connecticut Medical Society, and in 1835, received
the degree of M. D. from Yale College.

In the winter of 1837-8, his pecuniary affairs became em-
barrassed. Previous to this time he had always been in easy
circumstances, his income being amply sufficient for his own
requirements, and allowing him to be liberal in his aid to
others. He had now become hopelessly involved with a
bankrupt manufacturing company, of which he was almost the
only responsible member, and his property was insufficient to
discharge the debt. Harrassed by this sudden and unexpected
change in his affairs, a latent organic disease of the heart be-
gan to manifest itself, and his robust constitution, which had
withstood the wear and tear of thirty years' hard service, be-
gan to show evident symptoms of decay. He soon became
aware of the nature of the disease and its fatal tendency, and
submitted with christian resignation and philosophic fortitude
to the decrees of Providence. At times, his sufferings were
very severe, but he continued to visit patients occasionally,
until a short time before his death, which took place on the
15th day of September, 1838, in the fifty-fifth year of his age.

40

In his figure and personal appearance, Dr. EldreJgc ^vas
tall'and stoutly built, of a robust constitution, florid complex-
ion and blue eyes. He possessed, in a marked degree, the
virtue of hospitality; was fond of society and agreeable in
conversation, and his manner was eminently fitted to inspire
among the sick, hope and confidence.

In Tiverton, Drs. William Whittridge, a Vice President,
William C. Whittridge, Richard M. Webber, Dennis Cook,
Samuel West, M. D., first Vice President of the Society.

In Little Compton, Dr. Benjamin Richmond, who practiced
during the revolution, and Dr. Almy, who succeeded him.

In South Kingstown, there have been several physicians of
various degrees of eminence, viz. : — Drs. Charles Higgin-
bottom, Sylvester, Robert and George Hazzard, William
Chace, Joseph Torrey, Benjamin Waite, Joshua Perry,
Ezekiel and John L. Comstock, and John Aldrich.

In North Kingstown, Drs. Gilbert Updike, John Parish,
Jonathan Hazzard and Samuel Watson.

In Charlestown, Drs. Glazier, Mason, Bartlett, Newman,
Stephen F. Griffen.

In Westerly, Drs. Blodget, Babcock, Dorrance, Vincent,
Lea and Robinson.

In Hopkinton, Drs. Drake, Thomas and William Wilbour,
Amos and Isaac Collins, and George W. Perry.

In Warwick, Drs. Samuel Hudson, Stephen Harris, John
W. Tibbets, Sylvester Knight, Silas James, and Benjamin
Nichols.

In Cranston, Drs. Comfort A. Carpenter, George W. Ty-
ler, Robert Weeks, Daniel Baker, Jesse W. Olxey, T.
Aldrich, and Dr. Waterman.

41

In Scitvate, Drs. Caleb Fiske, M. D., to be noticed here-
after, John Wilkinson, Jere Cole, Benjamin Slack, and
John Anthony.

Caleb Fiske, M. D., deserves to ^e held in grateful remem-
brance, as a former President and a lasting benefactor to this
Society. He was son of John Fiske, and a lineal descendant
of Roger Williams, and was born in Scituate, R. I., close to
the boundary of Cranston, about 105 years ago. He studied
his profession with the late Dr. William Bowen ; was a Sur-
geon in the army of the revolution, and served in that capacity
at the time of General Sullivan's expedition against the Bri-
tish, on Rhode Island. He resided through most of his long
life, at the place of his birth, where he died. At one time he
was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was
one of the original members of this Society, named in its act
of incorporation ; and, in the year 1823, he succeeded Dr.
Pardon Bowen, as its President. In 1821, he received an
honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine, from Brown Univer-
sity. In addition to the cares of an extensive practice, he had
a large number of medical students, among whom may be
named the late Drs. Niles Manchester, of Pawtucket, and
Daniel Baker, of Cranston ; Dr. Harding Harris, and the fol-
lowing gentlemen, Drs. Rowland Greene, of Cranston, Stephen
Harris, of Providence, and Daniel Green, of East Greenwich.
Dr. Fiske died September, 1835, in the eighty-second year of
his age, being then the oldest practicing physician in the State.
He had accumulated a large property, and has left many
highly respected descendants.

Dr. Fiske has perpetuated his name in connection with
medical science, by his noble bequest, known as the Fiske
Fund. The original bequest was forty shares in bank, of the
par value of $2000, which, by subsequent accumulations, is
now double that sum. A large number of dissertations, writ-
ten for these premiums, have been published, and the Trus
tecs of the Fund now offer two premiums of $100 eacli. The
6

42

doctor also gave the Society a large portion of his Medical
Library.

In Foster, Solomon Drowne, M. D., already noticed at
length, by his grandson, Rev. Mr. Drowne, of Brooklyn, N. Y.

In Glocester, Drs. Joseph Bowen, Allen PotteB; Eleazer
Bellows, Aaron Waldron, Hazael Potter and Augustus
Torrey.

Burrillville, Dr. Eleazer Bellows, Jr.

In Smithficld, Drs. Benjamin and Ichabod Comstock .Wil-
liam Arnold, J. Smith, Simeon Brown, William Bushee, who
practiced before the revolution. After that period, and be-
fore the century closed, there were Drs. Harrington, Balcom,
Baxter and Benjamin Comstock.

North Providence, Dr. NiLES Manchester, a Vice President.

In Exeter, Drs. Sprague, Tripp and Moore.

In Richmond, Drs. Harrington, Ainsworth and Petissa.

In West Greenwich, Dr. Stephen Allen.

In Coventry, Drs. Cyrel Carpenter and Thomas 0. H.
Carpenter. The latter was two years a medical officer of
the navy in the Tripolitan war. He was remarkably eccen-
tric.

In Johnston, Drs. Moses Mowry, Stephen, and his son,
Jeremiah Wilcox.

In Cumberland, Drs. Ephraim Knapp, Abraham Mason, Ne-
HEMiAH A. Potter, Halsey D. and Micah Walcott.

In Bristol, Hon. William Bradford, of whom more will be
said hereafter ; also, Drs. Bourne, Gustavus Baylies, Tho-
mas Nelson, Thomas Warren, C. Foster, Caleb Miller and
Lemuel W. Briggs.

43

The Hon. William Bradford, just mentioned, was a de-
scendant, in the fourth generation, from the Hon. William
Bradford, second governor of Plymouth. He was born in
Plympton, in the county of Plymouth. The natural bias of
his mind led him to the study of medicine, and to this end he
sought the instruction of Dr. Ezekiel Hersey, of Hingham, the
generous benefactor of Harvard College. At the age of
twenty-two, he commenced the practice of medicine, in the
town of Warren, and soon gained a high reputation, particu-
larly as an operative surgeon. After a few years, he removed
to Bristol, where he not long after erected an elegant seat at
Mount Hope.

After residing some years in Bristol, he entered upon the
study of the law, partly from a love of juridical science, but
more to find increase of employment and usefulness. His
merits soon raised him to eminence, as a lawyer and politician.
He was a leading member of the committee of correspondence,
when the revolutionary struggle commenced, and a pillar of
the cause. During the cannonade of Bristol, in the evening
of October 7th, 1775, by the ships Rose, Glasgow and Syren,
Governor Bradford went on board the Bose, in behalf of the
inhabitants, and treated with Captain Wallace for the cessa-
tion of the bombardment. His own house was destroyed in
the conflagration.

In 1792, he was elected a senator to Congress. Preferring
a retired life, he soon resigned his seat for the delightful
shades of his favorite retreat at Mount Hope. He held vari-
ous ofl&ces, both State and municipal, and was, for many years,
Deputy Governor and speaker of the General Assembly.

His industry and economy brought him an independent for-
tune, which he liberally shared with the poor; and it was his
practice, for many years, to deposit with the clergyman of
the parish, a liberal sum, to be distributed at the discretion,
of the minister.

He was an early riser ; was temperate and moderate in his
enjoyments, and retired early to his couch, which tended to

prolong his life and activity to the age of fourscore. The
last thirty years of his life he remained single, which time he
cheered his solitary hours by the liberal entertainment of as-
sociates and strangers. He died July 6th, 1808. His eldest
son, William Bradford, was aid to General Charles Lee, of
the army.

In Warren, besides the Gov. Bradford just named, who re.
sided there some years before he went to Bristol, there was
a Dr. William Thompson, Isaac Barrus, and his brother,
Daniel Barrus, and Jere Williams, M. D., a Vice President
of the Society.

The physicians of Providence, already noticed, with the ex-
ception of Dr. William C. Bowen, flourished prior to 1800.
His name was inserted among them, in order that the Bowen
family miglit come together.

There were other practitioners of Providence, of less note,
prior to the above date, whom it is proper to mention, viz. : —
Drs. Thomas Trueman, son of Jonathan T., who died in 1787,
aged 35; Dr. Henry Sterling, senior, died 1810, aged 83;
Henry Sterling, Jr., died 1800, aged 33 ; Solomon Bradford,
died 1795, age 09; Robert Gibbs, died 1769, aged 73; John
Spurr, an Englishman, died 1810; Joseph Mason commenced
practice 1780, and at one period sustained a respectable
position in the profession ; Thomas Greene was in good prac-
tice until his mind became impaired. But most of the above
dealt in medicines, and attended chiefly to office calls, as did
also Drs. Stephen Randall and Benjamin Dyer.

After the commencement of the present century, several
physicians of eminence entered upon the duties of the profes-
sion in Providence, and acquired distinguished reputation.
They were highly educated, active and successful ; were pe-
titioners for the charter of the Rhode Island Medical Society,
and strict observers of its rules and regulations. Their names
were, John M'Kie, M. D., John M. Eddy, M. D., Jacob Ful-
ler, M. D., Thomas M. Barrows, M. D., and Pardon Brownell,

45

M. D. They were cut down in the midst of their use-
fulness; which should serve to remind us of the uncertain ten-
ure of our own lives. It is hoped that a more competent pen
will, ere long, portray their professional career, and do justice
to their merits. For reasons stated in our introduction, we
decline undertaking the task.

Dr. William Turner, of Newport, was born at Newark,
New Jersey, on the 10th of September, 1775, and was the son
of Daniel Turner, and grandson of Dr. William Turner, of
Newark, who was born in Newport, R. I., and was a pupil of
Dr. Vigneron of that place.

Early in life, he entered the office of Dr. Jabez Campfield,
of Morristown, New Jersey, as a student of medicine, and at
the expiration of his pupilage, was examined and licensed to
practice, and was admitted a Fellow of the Medical Society
of that State. He soon after removed to East Greenwich, in
this State, and entered into partnership with his uncle, Dr.
Peter Turner, formerly a Surgeon in the revolutionary army,
and for many years a leading practitioner in that town, and
whose daughter he subsequently married. His health havino-
declined, it was deemed advisable for him to try the eflfcct of
a sea voyage to a tropical climate, to which end, he applied
for and obtained a commission, as Assistant Surgeon in the
navy, dated August 31st, 1799. He cruised in the General
Greene, among the West India islands, and on her return, his
health being established, he settled in Newport, where he
practiced with distinguished success, maintaining the first rank
as an operative surgeon, in the south counties of this State,
and was exceeded by none as a general practitioner, of high
attainments and extensive popularity.

In September, 1812, he received a commission as Surgeon's
mate in the army, and during the remainder of his life, gave
daily attendance to the soldiers stationed at Fort Adams, in
Newport. He declined promotion to a full Surgeon, knowing
that its effect would be to remove him from his practice and

46

comfortable home. He died suddenly, on the 26th of Sep-
tember, 1837, at the bedside of an obstetrical patient, being
just sixty-two years of age.

As an operator and dresser. Dr. Turner was remarkable for
neatness and dexterity, and would lead a spectator to believe
that he had been trained in European hospitals. His judg-
ment was clear and correct ; his conversational powers of a
high order, and remarkable for logical precision and elegant
language. In the sick-room, he commanded great reverence
and esteem, and his amiability of temper and amenity of man-
ner won the affections of a wide circle of friends, which were
exhibited in a striking degree by the vast concourse of citi-
zens wlio assembled at his funeral, to weep over and lament
their loss. He contributed but few papers to medical jour-
nals, and though an elegant writer, he was not fond of appear-
ing before the public.

Dr. Turner had three brothers, all of them, as well as him-
self, officers in the navy, though his own term of service was
only one voyage in the General Greene. The oldest bro-
ther, Benjamin, after serving some years, fell in a duel, fought
with a son of Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, who soon after lost
his reason, remaining a maniac for life, in consequence, as is
supposed, of this unhappy affair. The youngest brother,
Henry E. Turner, entered the navy as a midshipman, in 1814,
and died in 1820. He was a young officer of high promise,
much beloved, and his early death greatly lamented by his
brother officers, as well as by a heart stricken family.

Commodore Daniel Turner was intermediate in years, be-
tween the two last, and was a gallant officer, trained under
Commodore Rodgers. He commanded the third ship in the
battle of Lake Erie, being at the time only twenty-one years of
age. His seamanship, and that of Sailing Master Taylor and
Lieut. Holdup was exercised and thoroughly tested in rigging
and outfitting the fleet on the lake. Of his conduct in the
battle. Commodore Perry says : — " Lieutenant Turner, com-
manding the (Jaledonia, brought that vessel into action in the

47

most able manner, and is an officer that, in all situations, may
be relied on." In his later years he commanded the Pacific
Squadron.

I have connected these names of Dr. Turner, in their pre-
sent relation, from their having been his proteges and wards.
He left a son, now Captain Peter Turner, the last survivor of
the long list of navy officers furnished by that family.

Edmund Thomas Waring.— Doctor E. T. Waring was the
fifth son of Thomas Waring, a planter of South Carolina.
He was born in Charleston, S. C, December 25th, 1779.
Having acquired the rudiments of learning, in the primary
schools of his native city, he became a private pupil of the
Rev. William Stoughton, D. D., a Baptist minister, then a resi-
dent of Georgetown, S. C, and afterwards the eloquent pas-
tor of the Sansom Street Church, Philadelphia. A warm and
abiding friendship between himself and his instructor affords
a pleasing testimony to his diligence, his docility, and his pro-
gress in learning. From Georgetown he went to Providence,
R. I., and pursued his studies privately, under the direction
of the Rev. Jonathan Maxcy, D. D., the President of what was
then Rhode Island College, and is now Brown University.
Although he was not graduated at that institution, he enjoyed
there those literary influences which always gather around a
seat of sound learning, and was intimately acquainted with
some who became distinguished among its alumni. Some of
his academic contemporaries were Tristam Burgcs, David
King, sen., Benjamin Shurtlefi" and Benjamin Renneau Simons,
— the latter of whom was his medical attendant in his last
illness. The class to which these gentlemen belonged was
graduated in 1796.

From Providence, Mr. Waring removed to Newport, to pur-
sue the study of medicine with Dr. Isaac Senter. From him
he won the same regard and esteem which he had gained from
his former teachers Soon after Dr. Senter's death, in 1779,
he visited his native State, but soon returned to Newport,

48

with a view of connecting himself, as a medical practitioner,
with the son of his professional instructor. This project was
not realized. He, however, continued for a while to serve
the family of his late friend, and was long treated by them as
a sou. Having opened an ofiicc for himself, he soon, by his
acknowledged skill, peculiar courtesy and polished manners,
acquired an extensive practice, especially among his felloAv
Southerners, who already began to make Newport a favorite
summer resort.

In 1803, Dr. Waring was married to Sophia F., daughter of
Hon. Francis Malbone, United States Senator from Rhode
Island. Ten children, all born in Newport, were the fruit of
this marriage. Mrs. Waring died in 1823, in giving birth to
the tenth.

For more than thirty years, Dr. Waring practiced medicine
in Newport, respected by his fellow citizens, and successful
in the performance of the duties of his profession. During
nearly all of this period, he was the Physician of the United
States Marine Hospital, — thus occupying a post which the
then extensive commerce of Newport rendered both lucrative
and important.

He was one of the founders of the Rhode Island Medical
Society, long one of its distinguished officers, and once de-
livered before it an oration. In 1834, in consequence of ex-
posure, he was attacked with severe illness, and in the hope
of alleviating the pains of incurable disease, he, at the earnest
solicitation of his children, residing in Charleston, revisited
his native city. Nearly exhausted by his disorder and by the
toils of his journey, he reached it in December, 1824. For
nearly a month, he lingered, with unclouded mind, and after
having taken an affectionate leave of his children, and uttered
his dying requests, he expired on the 21st of January, 1835,
aged fifty-five years and twenty-seven days. lu accordance
with both his promise to his wife before her death, and his
own expressed desire, his remains were, in the following
April, removed to Newport, and attended by two of his sons.

49

were deposited in the same tomb with hers, beneath the
shadow of Trinity Church, in which they had for years been
fellow-worshippers.

In deference to the wish of his surviving relatives, his many
friends in Newport refrained from expressing their respect for
the memory of their old and beloved physician, by a public
funeral. The common sentiment had, however, already found
fit utterance, in an obituary notice from the pen of a brother
physician, published in the Newport Mercury, February, 1835.
" He commenced his professional career," (says the writer,)
*' in this town, at an early age. and by the aid of superior tal-
ents, diligent attention, acuteness of observation, and uncom-
monly correct judgment, soon acquired an extensive practice,
and maintained to the close of his labors, the very first rank
among his brethren. As a gentleman, — the high*minded, hon-
orable gentleman, — Dr. Waring took a stand that brooked
no compromise with meanness or dishonesty, and consulted
professional interest or popularity, by no appeals to vulgar
prejudice or ignorant credulity. His mind was of a superior
order, and he had a self-command, a kind of philosophizing
and reasoning with himself, that enabled him to meet the
trials and emergencies of life, with a calm dignity and com-
posure, which we had almost said none but himself possessed^
and which abode with and sustained him at the close of life.
Numerous friends in this community deeply sympathize with
his bereaved family." To these traits of personal and pro-
fessional character, thus justly portrayed. Dr. Waring added
that peculiar courtesy and suavity of manner which is so im-
portant in his profession, and which, itself, often " doeth good
like a medicine." With a high sense of honor, and a dignity
which commanded the respect of his brethren, a skill as a
physician which won the confidence of his patients, and a gen-
tlemanly character which attracted the regard of all his fel-
low citizens, he lived in the home of his adoption universally
beloved; and died universally lamented. X>.

Dr. David King was born in Raynham, Mass., in the year
1774. His ancestry were of Puritan origin, and were distin-
guished for their public spirit, and for their Christian and
social virtues. His early life was passed amid influences aus-
picious to the growth of the best elements of character. He
was prepared for college, at a grammar school, under the
direction of the Rev. Peres Fobes, LL. D., a man remarkable
for his peculiar eloquence and for his various learning, who
officiated as President of Rhode Island College, in 1786, and
was subsequently Professor of Natural Philosophy. In Sep-
tember, 1792, Dr. King entered Rhode Island College, as a
student, under the Presidency of Manning, and graduated in
1796, under the Presidency of Maxcy. During his collegiate
course, he ever received the approbation of the presiding offi-
cers of the institution, and, indeed, won the friendship of these
distinguished men, for whom he was accustomed, through life,
to express the highest respect and admiration. He won, too,
the sincere respect of his classmates, many of whom rose, sub-
sequently, to distinction, as Hon. Tristam Burges, of Rhode
Island, Hon. John Holmes, of Maine, Hon. Asa Aldis, Chief
Justice of Vermont, Abraham Blandiug, a distinguished law-
yer of South Carolina, Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff, of Boston, and
Dr. Benjamin B. Simmons, of Charleston, South Carolina.
After graduating, choosing medicine for his profession, he, to-
gether with his classmate, Shurtleff, became the pupil of Dr.
James Thatcher, of Plymouth, Mass. Dr. Thatcher had offi-
ciated as Surgeon, in the revolutionary army, and his skill
and experience, at this period, commanded an extensive prac-
tice in Plymouth county.

Dr. King, by his diligence and assiduity in his medical
studies, soon acquired the necessary elements of a medical
education. Diverted by some accidental circumstance from
the navy, to which he was inclined to enter as Surgeon, he, in
the autumn of 1799, sought professional employment in New-
port, Rhode Island. At this time, there were but two medi-
cal practitioners in Newport, Dr. Benjamin Mason and Dr.

51

Jonathan Easton. Dr. Isaac Senter had just died, after a
comparatively . short but brilliant medical career, marked
throughout by unmistakable evidences of the bold, judicious
surgeon, and the wise and discriminating physician.

To attain public confidence, in a field of practice illustrated
by the labors of such a man as Senter, required in the prac-
titioner substantial merit. Dr. King fully comprehended the
extent and variety of medical knowledge, demanded for this
purpose. Having acquired the habits of a student during his
collegiate course, he vigorously concentrated his powers upon
a single object, — the attainment of a thorough knowledge of
his profession. In this he -Was aided by the valuable library
of the late Dr. Senter, which came into his possession soon
after his settlement in Newport.* His mind was eminently
practical, and endowed with those potent powers of execution,
which are necessary to arrive at truth in any science or art.
His professional knowledge was, therefore, such as to give
him a just claim to the attention of his fellow citizens ; this
added to the kindliness of his heart, his gentlemanly deport-
ment, his pleasing and unassuming manners, opened to him,
almost from the first, an extensive practice. His practice was
marked by the exercise of a sound, discriminating judgment,
precision in pathological and therapeutical views, an earnest
professional interest in the case, and a warm, true hearted
sympathy with the patient. In cases of difficulty, his resolu-
tion and judgment ever showed a manly confidence in the re-
sources of his own mind. The University at which he was
educated evinced their high estimation of his professional
character, by conferring on him, in 1821, the honorary degree

of M. D.

In the early period of his professional career, his attention

* It contained the manuscript lectures of Cline, Haygarth and Astley
Cooper ; the admirable physiological treatises of Haller and Whytt ; Mor-
gagni on Pathology ; fine copies of John and William Hunter's works, and
the complete works of Cullen, whose rational theory and practical views may
iustly be said to have created a new era in medical science.

was drawn to the consideration of the vaccine disease, then
first introduced into the United States. Regarding it as an
invalnablc discovery, he proceeded, notwithstanding the strong
opposition of popular prejudice, to benefit his fellow citizens
by the application of the newly discovered principle in his
science.*

In thus early adopting the views of the immortal Jenner,
and carrying them out in practice, he displayed a decision
and independence of mind, which strongly characterized him
through life.

For several years he held the appointment of Surgeon to a
detachment of United States troops stationed at Fort Wol-
cott. In 1819, during the prevalence of the yellow fever in
this place, his great skill and experience was actively and
successfully called into operation, in repelling that terrible
malady. At that time, it was the part of humanity to refute
the errors of those who regarded that disease as invariably
and certainly propagating itself, and as exposing those who
attended upon the sick, to almost certain death. Not admit-
ting the contagious character of the disease, he attributed it
to a more general and pervading cause ; and by his intrepidity,
and free personal exposure, attested his confidence in the
truth of his theoretical views.

In 1827, that enlightened champion of non-contagion, M.
Cherrin, visited Newport, held several conferences with Dr.
King, with regard to his experience of the epidemic of 1819,
and obtained his decided testimony in favor of the non-con-
tagiousness of yellow fever.f

Ardently attached to his profession, he was ever ready to
promote all useful and liberal plans, which might contribute
to the improvement and elevation of its character. He was

♦ In October, 1800, Dr. King vaccinated Walter Cornell, of Newport, who
was the first person vaccinated in the State of Rhode Island.

t M. Cherrin obtained a similar testimony from Drs. Waring, Turner and
Case. Dr. E. Hazard ^ve his evidence in favor of the doctrine of contagion.

53

one of the earliest promoters of the Rhode Island Medical
Society, in which he successively held the offices of Censor,
Vice President and President. He was elected President in
June, 1830, and continued in that office until July, 1834,

During his presidency, he delivered an inaugural discourse,
illustrating the true means of advancing medical science.

But his profession did not usurp all his attention. He was
always a friend and advocate of those means of public im-
provement, by which the feelings of a community are liberal-
ized, and an impulse is given to its moral, as well as physical
energies. The same practical understanding and active
energy, which he devoted to his profession, were exhibited in
the promotion of the various institutions with which he was
connected, so that wherever he acted, his influence was felt.
In the revival of Redwood Library, in 1840, he was an active
cooperator, with other public spirited men, and he was long a
director, and at last President of that institution, until ill
health compelled him to resign that office.

It was his pride to advance those enterprises which might
benefit the town in which he lived; and he regarded it with
an attachment which, in general, is appropriated only to the
spot of our birth. It will be observed, that he sometimes
turned aside from those avocations which were strictly pro-
fessional, to duties and services of a general nature. But it
is not to be regretted, that he should have sunk the more ex-
clusive and narrow aim of mere professional ambition, in the
more universal character of a citizen. It was the necessary
result of" his charactei', in which moral impulses predominated.
It sprung from that principle which made him the friend, as
well as the physician of his patients, and to their pecuniary
obligations superadded a debt of gratitude. It was the re-
sult, too, of public confidence, which reposed its trusts in his
hands, and felt that they were as secure as integrity could
make them.

His mind was distinguished for that due proportion between
the various faculties, which leads to their harmonious action,

64

and which subdued in him, all these exaggerations of charac-
ter and feeling, which are so eccentric and imposing. To
such regularity did this constitution of mind lead, in the or-
dinary intercourse of life, as to make the uniform discharge of
duty seem more a happiness of his nature, than a self-con-
strained virtue. An union of simplicity and firmness, a love
of the liberal, the true and the useful, and a conscientious
adherence to what he judged to be right, made him a model
for the citizen.

The uprightness of his character, and the strength of his
judgment, induced many to consult him as a friend, to whom,
notwithstanding the pressing cares of his professional life, he
rendered valuable services. The warm sensibilities of his
heart ever prompted him to disinterested action, which made
him the object of preeminent respect while living, and will
forever perpetuate his memory in the hearts of his friends.
In private life, his character was adorned by every quality
which constitutes goodness.

A perfect faith in God was ever an ennobling presence in
his mind. The practice of his art was to him a privilege, as
involving the exercise of his higher nature. He understood
the great truth expressed by the moral poet of the age : —

" How, on eartli,
Man, If he do but live within the light
Of high endeavors, daily spreads abroad
His being, armed with the strength that cannot fail."

His daily prayer to the Spirit on high was —

" Instruct me, for Thou knowest ;
What in me is dark, illume ;
What is low, raise and support."

Such was the religious character of this true and single-heart-
ed man.

In August, 1834, he suffered an attack of paralysis, brouglit
on from exertions in the discharge of his professional duties.
His constitution gradually failed until his death, which oc-

65

curred November 14th, 1836. When he had thus been struck
down, in the midst of active life, the attachment of the com-
munity to him was most signally exhibited. Throughout the
community there was an universal conviction, that society had
lost a benefactor, — an invaluable member. In the extensive
circle of his own patients, there pervaded a feeling of per-
sonal loss which no other person could supply. Few men
have lived more respected, or died more lamented.

[David King, M. D.]

Dr. Benjamin W. Case was a popular physician in New-
port ; but want of material facts compels us to defer noticing
him for the present.

In a performance like the present, depending for its mate-
rials on traditionary information, it would be strange if there
are not many errors, both of omission and commission. How-
ever numerous these may be, it is due to the other members
of the committee, Drs. Ray and Collins, to exonerate them
from blame or responsibility, they having left its entire exe-
cution in the hands of the chairman.

MEDICAL EDUCATION IN RHODE ISLAND.

The general practice in the education of physicians, prior
to the organization of the Medical Society, in 1812, was, for
pupils to enter their names as apprentices, in some physician's
office. Among the teachers most patronized in this way,
were those already mentioned, in Newport; and Drs. William
and Pardon Bowen and Levi Wheaton, in Providence ; Drs.
Babcock, of Westerly, Whitridge, of Tiverton, and Fiske and
Anthony, of Scituate. The teachers gave the pupil a letter
of recommendation, on leaving, which was his only credential.
After the Society was organized, a few pupils were examined

50

and licensed by its censors. No pupils, except the Bowens,
attended medical lectures. In 1800, there were not five medi-
cal graduates in the State. At the present day, there are
not five physicians of respectable standing, in the State, who
have not graduated as doctors of medicine.

The first schools opened in the country, were in Philadel-
phia, in 1762; in New York, 1768; in Boston, 1780, and in
Hanover, in 1800. In 1810, one was opened in Providence
in connection with Brown University ; Drs. William Ingalls,
Levi Wheaton, Solomon Drowne and William C. Bowen be-
ing appointed professors. The first named gentleman and
the last, gave two courses of lectures on anatomy and surgery,
and chemistry, which were all that the college then required
of candidates for medical degrees. Dr. Ingalls then trans-
ferred his lectures to Boston, where they were continued till
1822, when the school was reorganized at the college, in
Providence, under the following professors : —

Levi Wheaton, M. D., on Theory and Practice of Physic,
and Obstetrics.

John DeWolf, on Chemistry.

Solomon Drowne, M. D., on Materia Medica and Botany.

Usher Parsons, M. D., Anatomy, Physiology and Surgery.

Prom 1822 to 1826, the number of pupils ranged between
twenty and fifty, most of whom received the degree of Doctor
of Medicine. It was, however, found that the proximity of
medical schools in Boston, New Haven and Pittsfield, which
were provided with ample accommodations, would always
prevent the growth and success of one in Rhode Island, and
the school was therefore abandoned in 1826. The Professor
of Anatomy, who had given a short course of lectures annually,
to the upper classes in the college, since 1822, continued them
till 1828, when these also ceased.

Medical literature has received very few contributions
in Rhode Island. The medical journals of Philadelphia, New
York and Boston have received some communications, and in

57

early times, some were sent to European journals. One of
these, by Dr. Senter, of Newport, is often quoted by foreign

writers.

FISKE FUND PRIZE ESSAYS.

The Fiske fund has produced many prize essays, about half
of them written in Rhode Island ; they were as follows : —

1835. 1. What are the causes and nature of Rheumatism,
and the best mode of treatment to be employed therein ?

Award of forty dollars to Thomas H. Webb.

2. What are the causes and nature of Purpura He-
morrhagica, and the best mode of treatment to be em-
ployed therein ?

Award of forty dollars to David King, M. D., of New-
port.

1836. 3. What are the causes and nature of Cholera Infan-
tum, and the best mode of treatment to be employed
therein ?

Award of forty dollars to David King, M. D., of New-
port.

4. What are the nature and best mode of treatment of
Delirium Tremens ?

Award of forty dollars to Jacob Fuller, M. D., of
Providence.

1837. 5. What are the causes, nature and best mode of
treatment of Scarlatina Anginosa ?

Award of forty dollars to Jacob Fuller, M. D.

1 838. 6. What are the varieties and best mode of treatment
of Syphilis ?

Award of fifty dollars to David King, M. D., Newport.

1841. 7. What are the causes, character and nature of the
diseases of the spine, both structural and functional, and

8

58

what is the best mode of treatment to he employed in
each ?
Award of one hundred dollars to Usher Parsons, M. D.

1842. 8. What are the causes, character, nature and best
mode of treatment of Asthma ?

Award of fifty dollars to Joshua B. Chapin, M. D.,
Providence.

1844. 9. Tenotomy; its comparative advantages and disad-
vantages ?
Award of fifty dollars to Joshua B. Chapin, M. D.

1844. 10. The best mode of treating, and the best apparatus
for the management of fractures of the thigh.

Award of fifty dollars to William E. Co alb, M. D.,
Boston.

1847. 11. Vis Medicatrix Naturae; how far should it be re-
lied on in the treatment of diseases ?

Award of fifty dollars to C. W. Parsons, M. D.

1848. 12. Ship fever; its nature and best modes of treat-
ment.

Award of fifty dollars to Henry Grafton Clark, M.
D., of Boston.

1849. 13. The history of Medical Delusions of the present
and former times.

Award of fifty dollars to Worthington Hooker, M. D.
of Norwich, Conn. ' '

1 850. 14. Homeopathy, so called ; its history and refutation.

Award of fifty dollars to Worthington Hooker M D
Norwich, Conn. ' *'

1851. 15. Displacement of the Uterus; its local and consti-
tutional efiFects, and best mode of treatment.

Award of fifty dollars to J. F. Peebles, M. D., Peters,
burg, Va.

. 69

1853. 16. Neuralgia; its history and best mode of treat-
ment.

Award of fifty dollars to C. W. Parsons, M. D., Provi-
dence.

1854. 17. Croup.

Award of fifty dollars to Albert Newman, M. D.,
Attleboro, Mass.

1854. 18. Efi'ects of climate on tubercular disease.
Award of one hundred dollars, to Edwin Lee, M. D., of

London.

1855. 19. Does pregnancy accelerate or retard tubercular
disease in the lungs, in persons predisposed to this
disease ?

Award of one hundred dollars, to Edwin Warren, M.
D., Edenton, N. C.

1856. 20. What are the causes and nature of that disease,
incident to pregnancy and lactation, characterized by in-
flammation and ulceration of the mouth and fauces, by
anorexia and emaciation and diarrhoea, and what is the
best mode of treatment ?

Award of one hundred dollars to David Hutchinson,
M. D., Mooresville, Indiana.

1858. 21. The efi'ects of the use of alcoholic liquors on tu-
bercular disease, or in constitutions predisposed to such
disease ; supported by facts, presented, as far as possi-
ble, in statistical form.

Award of two hundred dollars to John Bell, M< D.,
of New York, June 1st, 1859.
The whole number of questions proposed, has been 42

Premiums awarded, - - - - 21

Premiums within the State, - - •• 11

Premiums out of the State, -^ - - 10

The Fiske fund supplies each fellow with a copy of every

00

essay, aud many copies for distribution abroad. It is believed
that the fund for awarding premiums, generously bequeathed
by Dr. Caleb Fiske, will call into exercise the literary and
medical abilities of the junior physicians, and advance the
cause of medical science throughout the State.

There is no public hospital in the State. An Almsliouse
or Asylum for the poor, was built twenty-five years ago, by
the munificence of Knight Dexter, Esquire, which affords to
the attending physicians some field for hospital practice.

The Butler Hospital for the Insane is a noble institution,
erected by the munificence of the late Cyrus Butler and Nich-
olas Brown, and many otlicrs. It has been, since first opened,
under the superintendence of Isaac Ray, M. D.

Revision of the National Pharmacopoeia, — Every ten
years, a meeting of delegates from the several State Medical
Societies has been held, generally at Philadelphia, for the
purpose of revising the Pharmacopoeia of the United States.
This Society has usually chosen delegates.

American Medical Association. — This Society has taken
an active part in« its meetings, which are held annually, in
different cities, by sending delegates ; and it has substituted
the system of Medical Ethics of that body for its own By-
Laws, 80 far as they are applicable.

REGISTRATION REPORTS.

The Society has taken a prominent part in procuring the
establishment of a systematic registration of births, marriages
and deaths, in this State. Several laws had formerty existed
on this subject ] but they were almost wholly ineffectual,—
entirely so in regard to the collection of statistics from the
State at large. At the annual meeting of this Society, in
June, 1850, Dr. Mauran brought this subject to its attention;

61

and, on his motion, a special committee was appointed to act
in connection with the appropriate committee of the General
Assembly. The subsequent enactment of the earliest eflec-
tive law on this subject, was obtained at the suggestion, and
under the advice, of this committee of the Medical Society ;
and at all stages of its progress, the efforts of the chairman.
Dr. Mauran, were most assiduous, and finally successful. The
statistics of births, marriages and deaths, are now very care-
fully collected, — more thoroughly, we believe, than in any
other State, except Massachusetts, which took the lead in this
important public movement. The returns for each year are,
according to the law, made the subject of annual reports, the
preparation of which is confided to a committee of our So-
ciety, chosen for the purpose. Five annual reports have
already been published, and widely circulated among medical
men throughout the country ; and the Medical Society has the
satisfaction of seeing this system permanently established in
Ehode Island, through the efforts of its own members, and the
control of many of its details placed in their hands. The first
report was prepared by Thomas H. Webb, M. D., and the four
subsequent ones, by Charles W. Parsons, M. D., of Providence.

A pamphlet, containing the act of incorporation, list of
petitioners for the same, in 1812, by-laws, medical police,
account of the Fiske fund, and a catalogue of the officers and
fellows, is published every three years.

The charter authorizes the members of the Society to elect
the necessary officers, and to determine their duties; to hold
a common seal, with power to break or change it; to sue and
be sued; to enact rules and by-laws, and annex fines and
penalties ; to determine the number necessary to constitute a
quorum, and to establish the time, place and manner of con-
vening the Society ; to elect, by a majority of the votes of
those present, suitable persons as members and honorary

62

members, — the former to subscribe to the by-laws within one
year, or otherwise declare their assent in writing, — the latter
to consist of persons residing out of the State, or not prac-
ticing in it ; to examine candidates for the practice of physic
and surgery, and if found qualified, to give them letters testi-
monial ; and to hold real estate, yielding an annual income of
not exceeding five hundred dollars, and of personal estate not
exceeding fifteen hundred dollars.

The by-laws specify: — 1. That annual meetings shall be
held at Providence, on the first Wednesday in June, at 10
o'clock A. M., at such place as the President may appoint,
fourteen days' notice being previously given in some paper
printed in the city of Providence, and also by a written or
printed notice, addressed to each Fellow of the Society, by
the Recording Secretary ; at which meeting ten Fellows shall
constitute a^ quorum for tlic transaction of business.

There shall also be a semi-annual meeting, held on the third
Wednesday in December, at 10 o'clock A. M., at such town or
city as the Society, at its previous annual meeting, may ap-
point, notice to be given as for the annual meeting.

The whole number of Fellows admitted, prior to 1850, is
212.

Officers of the Society from its commencement, in 1812, to
1850: —

PRESIDENTS.

Amos Tliroop,
William BoAven,
Pardon Bowen,
Caleb Fiske,
Levi Wheaton,
David King,
Charles Eldredge,
Usher Parsons,
Richmond Brownell,
Theophilus C. Dunn.

1812 to 1814.

1814 to 1815.

1815 to 1823.

1823 to 1824.

1824 to 1829.
1829 to 1834.
1834 to 1837.
1837 to 1840.
1840 to 1843.
1843 to 1846.

Lewis L. Miller,
Joseph Mauran,
David King,
S. Aug. Arnold,
George Capron,
Hii-am Allen,
Joseph Mauran,
Ariel Ballou,
Isaac Ray,
Jas. II. Eldredge,

1846 to 1847.

1847 to 1848.

1848 to 1849.

1849 to 1850.

1850 to 1851.

1851 to 1852.

1852 to 1855.

1855 to 1856.

1856 to 1858.
1858 to I860-

63

FIRST VICE PRESIDENTS.

Wm. Bowen, 1812

Peter Turner, 1813

William Whitridge, 1815
Caleb Fiske, 1818

David King, 1823

Solomon Drowne, 1829
John Mackie, 1831

Samuel West, 1833

William Turner, 1837
Niles Manchester, 1838
Theophilus C. Dunn, 1840
Lewis L. Miller, 1843

to 1813. Jabez Holmes, 1846 to 1847.

to 1815. David King, 1847 to 1848.

to 1818. S. Aug. Arnold, 1848 to 1849.

to 1823. Geo. Capron, 1849 to 1850.

to 1829. Hiram Allen, 1850 to 1851.

to 1830. William A. Shaw, 1851 to 1852.

to 1833. Sylvanus Clapp, 1852 to 1854.

to 1837. Ariel Ballou, 1854 to 1855.

to 1838. Hiram Cleaveland, 1855 to 1856.

to 1840. James H. Eldredge, 1856 to 1858.

to 1843. Charles W. Parsons, 1858 to 1860.
to 1846.

SECOND VICE PRESIDENTS.

Jonathan Easton,
Peter Turner,
Pardon Bowen,
Caleb Fiske,
David King,
Solomon Drowne,
John Mackie,
Edmund T. Waring,
William G. Shaw,
Ezekiel Fowler,
Jere. Williams,
Lewis L. Miller,
Jabez Holmes,

1812 to 1813.

1813 to 1814.

1814 to 1815.

1815 to 1819.
1819 to 1823.
1824 to 1829.
1829 to 1831.
1831 to 1834.
1834 to 1837.
1837 to 1840.
1840 to 1842.

1842 to 1843.

1843 to 1846.

David King,
S. Aug. Arnold,
George Capron,
Hiram Allen,
Wm. A. Shaw,
Joseph Mauran,
Chas. W. Parsons,
Ariel Ballou,
Hiram Cleaveland,
Isaac Pay.
Chas. W. Parsons,
Henry E. Turner,

1846 to 1847.

1847 to 1848.

1848 to 1849.

1849 to 1850.

1850 to 1851.

1851 to 1852.

1852 to 1853.

1853 to 1854.

1854 to 1855.

1855 to 1856.

1856 to 1858.
1858 to 1860.

RECORDING SECRETARIES.

John Mackie, 1812 to 1817.

J.W.Richmond, 1817 to 1821.

Pardon Brownell, 1821 to 1825.
Richmond Brownell, 1825 to 1830.

S. Aug. Arnold, 1830 to 1837.

Johnson Gardner, 1837 to 1842.

Leander Utley, 1842 to 1844.

C. G. Perry,
C. W. Parsons,
J. W. C. Ely,
Edwin M. Snow,
W. O. Brown,

1844 to 1846.
1846 to 1849.
1849 to 1852.
1852 to 1855.
1855 to 1858.

J. H. Rathbone, 1858 to 1859.
Edward A. Crane, 1859 to 1860.

64

CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES.

William Turner, 1812 to 1832. Henry E. Turner, 1851 to 1852.

Thomas H. Webb, 1832 to 1839. J. W. C. Ely, 1852 to 1855.

C. G. Perry, 1839 to 1840. Edwin M. Snow, 1855 to 1856.

Hiram Allen, 1840 to 1849. George P. Baker, 1856 to 1860.

C. W. Parsons, 1849 to 1851.

Thos. M. Barrows,
Jacob Fuller,
Sylvester Knight,
II. Armington,

TREASURERS.

1812 to 1830. Lewis W. Clifford, 1849 to 1850.

1830 to 1839. Chas. W. Fabyan, 1850 to 1852.

1839 to 1841. George P. Baker, 1852 to 1855.

1841 to 1849. George L. Collins, 1855 to 1860.